Don't touch

Rosanne and Storm, our border collie, have known each other for nearly seven years – for Stormy that’s forty-nine in human years. During that time not once has Storm allowed Rosanne to touch her. In fact, she hasn’t let anyone touch her except Lorraine, Chuck (my husband) and myself. I take that back; Mom petted her when she was still with us. Mom could calm her down by reading to her, stroking her long black hair, or just by being with her.

Anyway, Storm is part Border collie and part red heeler. I heard somewhere that a heeler has a touch of dingo in it and whether that’s true or not, I can see that wild dog in Storm sometimes. If she doesn’t want someone or something around her, she’ll curl her lip in that cute yet horrifying manner that bares her teeth signaling the offending one to back off. She also whispers a growl if you know what I mean – kind of a hissing Chew Baca sound. Consequently we always try to tell anyone coming onto our property to avoid reaching out to Storm, talking to her, looking at her.

“Just ignore her,” we say. “Don’t look at her.” Now that’s difficult for some people to do as Storm is a very pretty collie with long, wavy black hair, white legs and tail plus a very thin white line running down her nose. Her appearance deceptively says, “Come hither.”

Those who fall for her wiles get a quick snarl and air-nipping from the pretty, little creature. She’s never bitten anyone yet and we hope she never does; hence, the warning, “Ignore her. Don’t touch.”

So, Rosanne has been very patient with her over the years. Sweet talking her, ignoring her, giving her a little treat at a distance. Rosanne is that way; she’s our best friend if there ever was one. She worked with Lorraine many years ago, traveled with her, helped us take care of our parents, and has been a godsend to us. She now takes care of her mother and father plus tries to keep us up and running as well. To me Rosanne and Storm seem made for each other, but Storm has never allowed her to pet her.

Until the other day. Storm has a “den” under the staircase in our home and she cuddles in there frequently to rest or to get out of the way of us humans. It’s her quiet place. I think she also likes it there because as we go down another set of stairs we pass her laying there, our eyes level with hers by the time we get to the bottom step. More often than not we stop and pet her soft ears, tweak her nose, or just say, “Hi, Storm.”

Well, Rosanne walked down the stairs a couple of days ago while Storm was in her den, and for whatever reason she reached out and touched Storm’s paw. Instead of the typical air-nip and growl, Storm licked her fingers. She gave Rosanne a kiss! Can you believe that? Seven years and they finally made contact.

Miracles do happen.