Bijou - every dog deserves a loving home

Bijou 

"In a perfect world, every dog would have a home and every home would have a dog."

Bijou is a 3 year old Chow – German shepherd mix who stepped into my life back in February. I was walking to get the mail Saturday morning, when several neighbors asked if I had ever seen this dog before. Bijou was a stray with no identifying tags who had been running loose for three days. One of the neighbors couldn’t keep her and I was hesitant to do so myself.

When the suggestion was made to place her in a no-kill shelter Monday morning, this sweet dog had no place to lay her head for two nights, I agreed to take her in. February’s weather here in North Carolina was still cold and wet.

Ginny and Alison, my neighbors, joined me in prayer over Bijou that she would find her way back home and that her rightful owner would step up to claim her. We were full of faith that Almighty God would honor our prayer.

Was she housebroken? Well behaved? Could I trust her while I was at work? All of those concerns melted as I took her home. I didn’t know her name or where she came from, but she quickly touched my heart with her gentleness, gratefulness and attentiveness to me. She was my TV buddy, as we sat and watch The Simpsons together! In no time, we bonded… We took long walks together and played fetch in the house. Her antics, especially playing hide and seek were goofy!

"Dogs laugh, but they laugh with their tails. What puts man in a higher state of evolution is that he has got his laugh on the right end." - Max Eastman

At work, I put the word out to the various dog lovers. I couldn’t keep her with my back and forth travels between North Carolina and Tennessee (where I already have two dogs), but I was absolutely determined that in no way she was going to end up in a shelter. I had exhausted all leads and resources to find her rightful owner.

Kristen, my coworker quickly wrote back expressing that her mom and sister had been wanting a dog for a while and it seems like maybe this was meant to be that they hadn’t started looking yet, giving this sweet girl a chance to come along.

Well, God does answer prayers! Bijou (her new given name) now lives in Greenville, NC with a two acre backyard with a loving family. I am so grateful for Kristen, Kimberly & Katie (her sisters) and parents Linda & Andrew who had a such a big heart to give her a home.


Bijou & butterfly 

Kristen tells me that Bijou’s favorite toys are a squeaky sheep and a plush bean toy (which led them to call her Bean-jou sometimes). Kristen adds, “When I went home 2 weeks ago, I asked my mom why there were toys up on tables and countertops, and she said Bijou gets so excited sometimes when she’s playing that she just flings her toys into the air, and they land on tables and such.

She LOVES to go for walks around the neighborhood, and seems to get more excited about seeing her leash even than running free in the backyard. Still, my sister goes in the back yard and runs around with her often, and she goes on several walks a day.

Her “cousins” are my dogs Celia and Fuzz, and Katie’s dogs Roxy and Daisy, as well as Misty, the family’s crotchety 9-year-old Maltese.”

I am proud to call Bijou my “God Dawg” and look forward to having her stay with me when her family goes on vacation. It’s just like God to place people in your life for encouragement and divine connections; since God is truly Almighty, He can send a dog into your life as well when we need lots of unconditional love!


Bijou at home 

"I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love. For me they are the role model for being alive." - Gilda Radner