In September 2002, I was looking for a mature dog as companion for my dog Scout after the loss of his sister Kaylee, and saw Benny's picture on Petfinders. He was so handsome and had a wonderful smile. I had to meet him! Benny had been a stray and probably abused, but his foster family, the Kerstetters, had done a wonderful job with him, and he and Scout hit it off fine. He was a very sweet, gentle dog, around 7 or so years old at the time, slightly older than Scout and
a good match.

Benny was really bonded to his foster mom, Jill, and she to him, but with time, Benny became bonded to me and a good companion for Scout. He was my velcro dog and followed me around the house like my previous dog Kaylee. Since both of them had some Chow-Chow blood, Benny had some of Kay's mannerisms which endeared him to me even more. It took some time before Benny stopped cringing if you raised your hand suddenly, and for loud sounds not to frighten him. But love is a great healer, and Benny outgrew most of his trauma and lived a peaceful, quiet life with us, something far different than the sad life he'd had before his foster mother Jill found him roaming around, hungry, fur matted, and with a piece of chain hanging from his collar, and rescued him. He adapted well when we moved to State College, and bonded well with my new husband Joe.

One of Benny's traits that took some getting used to is that he was quite a herder. I managed to stop the nipping at the ankles behaviour, but his nose was always nudging us to get attention or herd us in the desired direction. He treated us as if we were big sheep that needed to be herded to the door to let him out. It became an ongoing joke, especially when someone got goosed by that cold wet nose unexpectedly.

It's often hard to find a home for an older dog, and his foster mom Jill couldn't keep him. So her family, her entire church and Robin Scherer of Furry Friends all prayed he'd find a forever home. Well, he did find an earthly home with our family, but he's now in his true forever home herding the angels around. We lost him to old age-related ailments this December, 2006, after only 4 years. He will be missed!