Seeing as I am willing to pull my 35-pound mutt all the way across the country, it’s a good bet that I have strong feelings about Elke, and dogs in general. Meet Elke.

That’s her adopted sister, Hope, lurking in the background. Elke is a shelter mutt. I found her not long out of her third home at the ripe old age of 1 year. She has been with me since January, 2007, and she is doing well. She is half Border Collie and half Jack Russell. She displays the herding instincts of the Border Collie along with the obsessive fetching of a Jack Russell. She plays a seriously good game of frisbee.

She is well trained and well behaved, for the most part, but gets really nervous and excited around new people, which is not helped by the fact that she is blind as the proverbial bat. Seriously. She can see, but not very well. Luckily, she seems to have the sonar system of a bat and manages to play frisbee by ear. She loves everyone, once she decides that you are human, and gets along well with dogs and cats. She’s a bit bossy though. The sooner that other dogs acknowledge her innate superiority, the better.

Now that you’ve met my critter, why not head on over to your local shelter, or one of the good web sites I’ve linked, and find a good traveling friend of your own. Elke has proven herself over and over. She has walked over 3000 miles with me, and has been a laugh riot almost the entire way. She’s nothing special in that regard. Almost any dog can fill the same role for you, and there are thousands out there waiting for a good home.

Get one, give it some time, love, consistency, and patience, and before you know it, you’ll never figure out how you made it through the day without your furry friend. For those of you who have shelter dogs, good job!