Full Circle...
Randy Williams & Patti just before she came home to Ohio
It's not often we get to see events in our lives come full circle...
The first time I saw Patti and her sister, Sweetie, they were 10 weeks old. My husband, Chuck, and I had driven 3 hours to see the two pups we hoped to add as livestock guard dogs to our growing sheep flock.
Patti and Sweetie were crammed into a metal cage with a metal bottom, sitting in the full sun with a tarp over the cage. In August. They had no water and were panting so badly I feared for their lives. Chuck and I knew that even if we didn't want these 2 pups we would take them just to get them to safety. As we drove home with the girls Patti gave us the cold shoulder by turning her back on us and not responding to our voices when we tried to talk to her.
Our lead dog, Molly, was wary about the pups at first but quickly seemed to understand they were not competition but the help she needed. They bonded quickly to each other and were inseparable in a matter of days.
As the girls grew up Patti grew more and more aloof. Though she responded to my voice by wagging her tail, she remained just beyond reach when I tried to pet her. When I entered the pasture she would leave for another paddock and I noticed she interacted much more comfortably with the other dogs and sheep than with me. Though she was never aggressive towards me, she certainly was not interested in spending time with me as the other dogs were.
When Patti was 3 years old she began to leave the pasture. By leaving, I mean just that--she dug out of the pasture and stayed outside the fence away from the sheep--and from me. I consulted several people who had been raising Livestock Guard Dogs (LGD's) for many years and they all told me there are some guards that prefer to guard outside the pasture so they can get to the predators before they enter the pasture. That may work in some neighborhoods but not in ours where many of the neighbors have a "cute" saying: "Shoot, Shovel and Shut Up" referring to what happens to stray dogs if they cross their (the neighbor's) property lines.
When Patti decided to not only guard her sheep but also all the livestock in the neighborhood--meaning she roamed continually-- I knew it was time to find her a new home. I "loaned" her to a friend in Indiana who had a coyote problem and a more understanding group of neighbors than I had. Patti took care of the predator problem at her new home but she also began to leave the pasture and run into the road where she'd hide behind trees and jump out at unsuspecting drivers. This did not set well with those she "played" this game with.
So Patti came back to our farm, this time we had electric fencing installed behind our woven wire fence that held her in the pasture for about a year and a half until she found she could dig under the fence and slide herself under the electric wire without being shocked.
I knew it was just a matter of time before Patti became a problem again with our neighbors so I began to advertise her to the farms in our state. No one responded until one day I got a call from a lady in Pennsylvania who was looking for a guard dog for her sheep--the same breed we raise. Patti would have 100 acres to roam and the 7 strand very hot electric fence this farm used seemed like the perfect place to keep Patti contained.
In August of 2010 I met the people who were to pick up Patti, we loaded her up in their car (she had to be sedated for me to even catch her) and she was on her way to PA. Finally, Patti would be able to guard on a large farm while being safely enclosed by electric fencing. It seemed like the perfect solution and life for Patti and her new owners.
Or so I thought...
The day after Patti left our farm I got a call from her new owners. Things had not gone well, Patti had timed the shock pulse of the electric fence and jumped through the strands 10 minutes after she'd gotten to her new home. It was literally my worst nightmare for her or any of my animals--to be taken to a new home and escape from it before they knew where they was supposed to come back to. The fact that Patti was hundreds of miles away from me or anything she knew made things even worse.
The new owners immediately looked for her and alerted their neighbors about her escape. But there was no sign of Patti anywhere--she'd just vanished. I kept in close contact with Patti's new owners and they began to get calls from people who had spotted her including a neighbor who caught her on a video camera they had installed on their hiking trails. Patti was still in the area and I was assured by her new owners it would just be a matter of time before they got her back to their farm. Though I wanted to come immediately to where Patti had disappeared in PA, I was assured everything that could be done to find and catch her was being done.
So I waited and prayed...
Patti sightings were still coming frequently for quite some time but as they tapered off I felt I had to go and try to bring her home. You have to understand that making a trip by myself, to a place I did not know (that had bears) to walk the woods and fields--without getting lost was, to those who know me, either the act of a deluded mind or a huge leap of faith. I wavered between these 2 possibilities and decided that a leap of faith at least sounded like the better of the possibilities.
For 7 days I prayed, walked, talked to many strangers, handed out and posted flyers, ran ads, visited state and local law enforcement and called every dog shelter or pound or vet clinic within reason. I even contacted the local newspapers to see if anyone would pick up the story and 1 paper did. That story written by writer/dog lover, Chris Togneri, brought me many leads while I was in PA and I followed each one hoping 1 of these dogs would be Patti. Each time I went away without my girl...
I finally had to leave PA alone and each mile between Patti and I actually caused me to weep for her. I asked God why I could not find her but heard no answer.
For months I prayed and cried and dreamed (not good dreams) about Patti. I felt I had betrayed and doomed her to death and the guilt was weighing my heart down. I knew that since she did not seek human contact she would not be easily caught and, since she would gravitate towards livestock, would most likely be shot as a marauding dog.
Though it took me a while to get to that place, I realized I had done all I could--more than many would have done--and I let it go. I remembered seeing a little sign years ago that said, "Do your best and leave the rest to God". I had certainly done my best, now I had to let God do His part and in His time.
All leads evaporated. It seemed Patti had vanished from my life as easily as she'd vanished into the PA woods and countryside until I decided for, whatever reason, to place just 1 more ad in the local PA paper that had published the story about Patti. I called it a Christmas present to myself all the while not expecting to get a response from that ad.
A few days after I placed the ad I got a call from a gentleman in PA (Randy Williams) who lived 12 miles from where Patti had last been seen--12 miles from the farm she was supposed to live at. He had been told my his mother-in-law about my ad and said he was sure he had Patti. Id' heard that story so many times before that I didn't get too excited about what he had to say. I asked if he could take a picture of the dog and he told me he didn't know if he could get close enough to her. Within minutes he sent me a picture that sent chills through me. It looked like Patti had indeed gotten to their farm and was safe after all.
Of course, to be 100% sure it was her I would have to go to PA--in winter, during the coldest weekend of that winter. All the way there I prayed it would be Patti. As soon as I pulled up into the Williams' driveway Patti met me barking and running beside my van. Now, she was not barking because she was happy to see me, she barked because I was an "intruder". I knew I had my work cut out for me if I was going to be successful in catching Patti.
All that weekend I tried to catch her by putting sedatives in hot dogs--her favorite treat. All weekend she eluded me as I sat for hours in a cold van trying to look uninterested and or invisible to Patti. The Williams offered their home to me during the day and I went from window to window in their house following her movements. But nothing worked and after seeing how hard I tried to catch Patti all weekend, the Randy and Laurie (Williams) said they would continue taking care of Patti with the hope that they could someday catch her and return her to me.
I cried much of the 4 hour drive home and talked to my dear friend, Mary Ann, on the phone. Though I was so sad I could not catch Patti I also was so grateful to God that I had seen her and knew she was in loving hands. It was almost beyond my comprehension that God cared enough for me and knew how much I was grieving over Patti that He let me know she was OK. I could have just as easily never known what happened to her.
I emailed the reporter, Chris Togneri, and asked if he'd consider doing a follow-up article giving Randy and Laurie credit for taking in Patti and letting readers know the end of the story. Unbelievably Chris still got inquiries about Patti and people wanted a happy ending so he interviewed the Williams Family and took along a photographer (Andy) with a very long lens since Patti would not come close to them.
For a time I kept in touch with the Williams and they continued loving and caring for Patti for 2 years after my last attempt to bring her home. Then we lost touch until this past March when I received an email from Chris Togneri telling me Randy Williams had contacted him to see if they'd do a story about Patti again.
It seems a neighbor of theirs was routinely calling the dog warden with complaints about Patti being on his property. The neighbor could legally shoot and kill Patti if she was on his property and the Williams were facing some large fines if they did not restrain Patti. Restrain Patti? Not an easy task. You'd have to catch her first and Randy would not even try to restrain Patti since he believed it would kill her. He thought if Chris could write an article about the situation maybe someone with a lot of land and livestock would take Patti in.
I immediately called Randy and told him we'd come for Patti if they could catch her. He told me the dog warden had tried several different things to catch her and had even called in a "dog whisperer" who failed to catch Patti amd said she was too smart to trick or catch. At this point the dog warden and I were also in touch because I wanted him to know we were committed to bringing Patti back to Ohio, out of his jurisdiction.
On a Saturday, two weeks later, we got a call from Laurie saying they had caught Patti (who was heavily sedated) and that we needed to get in our car and drive to PA now! Now doesn't happen easily on our farm but in 2 hours we got things settled enough to leave. I called Chris, the reporter, to let him know we were on our way since he'd asked if he could be there to get the real end of the story.
Chris, Andy (the photographer), the Williams Family and some friends were there to meet us when we got to PA. Patti was still very sleepy so the Williams offered us dinner and we all talked about Patti's "adventure". Many tears were shed since the Williams Family, especially Allison (Randy and Laurie's teenage daughter), had become very fond of Patti and kept saying it wasn't fair that she had to leave. It was difficult for them to let her go but a necessity if Patti was to be safe.
After an hour we loaded Patti into the car for the 4 hour drive home. She slept most of the way back and once we got her to our farm I put her behind electric fence she would not cross. She stayed there for 2 weeks until I thought she'd know where she could come back to once she left the pasture. I was sure she would not stay within the pasture fence for long amd assumed she wold leave it the first chance she got.
Much to my surprise Patti has not left the pasture but has stayed inside the fence for the last 3 months she has been home. Not only did I finaly get my Patti back, but she came back a new "improved" Patti.
And, I know without a doubt each step of this journey, Patti's journey, was led by God. I also know that because it was so important to me to bring Patti home so she could be safe, He brought these events full circle just for me!
Shepherdess Blog
June 23,2013
Copyright 2013 Jackie Deems
