Acadia Brigadoon, AXJ, OA, NF, RA, BN, CGC

Yesterday 13 year old Brig came back to Acadia after his owner, Holly, passed away.   Brig is the son of GChS. Acadia Stage Presence, CC- “Liza”, who passed away last year.   He is a half-brother to Aiden and Chica. Brig was in Liza’s first litter, born Thanksgiving week 2012 at the farm in Pennsylvania.

For many years, Mike and I hosted our families for Thanksgiving at the farm. My sister Beck’s daughter, Cadence, was really hoping that Liza would have her puppies during their stay, but sadly, she did not.  Liza delivered November 27, after all of the guests had gone home.   Cadence is now a senior in college and has just been accepted into Vet school.   

I feel so fortunate that Holly had included instructions in her last Will and Testament that he was to be returned to his breeder if she preceded him in death.   All of our puppies are sold with a contract stating:

“Not to abandon the dog at a shelter or rescue for the purpose of finding a new home or euthanasia.  If the buyer can’t keep the dog they must 1) notify Acadia Shelties and 2) offer the dog back to Acadia Shelties at no charge.  Buyer is responsible for any expenses incurred to return the dog to Acadia.  If the buyer has another prospective home, they must still notify Acadia Shelties.  If upon notification to Acadia Shelties, the buyer and Acadia Shelties mutually agree on a third party as the new owner/home, Acadia Shelties must be provided with the name, address and phone number of the third party.”

Over the 28 years I have been breeding dogs, I have only had a handful of instances where the life circumstances of a dog have changed.  I hope that truly only a handful of our dogs have had lifechanging circumstances.  That is the case for Brig.  

I was first contacted by Holly’s friend Kris that Holly was in the hospital and Brig was safe with a friend.  Kris told me that once Holly got out the hospital and rehab she would be going to assisted living where she would be allowed to have Brig.   That sounded good.  Holly and Brig would be together.  Sadly, Holly never made it to assisted living and the home that was caring for Brig while he was waiting to be reunited with Holly couldn’t keep him long-term.  No problem, he is always welcome with us. 

Brig seems to be taking this change in stride.  Resilience is a great trait.  We are proud of him and happy to have him back.

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