The pictures here are of my dog Fantaija. She is 9 years old and an Australian shepherd/border collie mix. She was given to me from a close friend a few months after my other dog Peanut passed of old age. Fantaija came from a farm close to where I lived. We went there, I picked her out, and we took her home. I’ll never forget, on the way home she got the hick-ups! I never knew that dogs got those (but why not I guess). For many months she would get the hick-ups every time she would ride in the car. When I got her I had just gotten my drivers license so she soon learned to love riding in cars. To this day she tries to get in the car every chance she gets.
Oddly enough, she is scared to death of them if they are running. We are thankful for that as it lessons the likelihood of her ever getting hit by a car (we always keep her leashed but you never know). Fantaija is a wonderful dog. She loves all animals and our new baby.
Fantaija lived with me up until around 2003 when I moved to Chicago with my fiancée. Down there it is very hard to find a place that will allow a dog of that size. I made the hard choice to give her to a “loving” home. That was the worst decision I’ve ever made in my life and one that I’ll never do again. A couple years later we moved back to my home town and I got a call from a stranger that said “I found your dog”. I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about since I hadn’t had a dog in years. I asked her “what dog?” Fantaija still had the tags on her (rabies and license) that I had put on her years before. The lady found her and called the vet where the tags were from. I was the last known owner.
I packed myself in my car and rushed over to get her. I intended on calling the lady that I had given her to (I keep everyone’s’ info when I give them a pet). But when I got to the lady’s house who had found her there was another woman there claiming that the dog was hers although I had never seen her before. I was so upset. On my way there I thought that this was Gods way of getting Fantaija back to me now that I had a place where I could have her. Since she was rightfully her dog I let her take her. I cried all the way home. Seeing how upset I was, Shannon (my fiancée) called the woman and asked if he could possibly have Fantaija. He offered to get her another dog but she said it wasn’t necessary (he gave her $ for a new one anyway). So, with all said and done, I know that this was in fact Gods way of getting her back to me. I will never give up another dog again. I feel so bad that Fantaija went through several homes before finding me again. Every animal should have one stable home. This taught me a lesson I will never forget.
