At right are Tiffy and her sister Koda. Tiffy was one of the first dogs to go home from WSR.
Here is her story as told by mom Joyce:

When my Tiffy II visited "her" vet for the last time, there was a Sheltie Rescue brochure on the counter. I could not BELIEVE there was such a thing as Sheltie Rescue, you GOT to be kidding!!

It was a Brochure for Illinois's Second Hand Shelties and I called them as soon as I got home just to see what they were all about. I explained that my Tiffy was 16 and that I did not want to bring a new dog in the home with her but would possibly be interested in a rescue sheltie when I lost her. They explained what rescue was all about and sent me an application to have on file for when the time came.

Well, on 15 October 1997, my Tiffy was 16yrs, 8 mo & 9 days and decided it was time to go to the Bridge (which I had never heard of before). I called Second Hand the next day. I don't remember which lady it was that I talked to, but we talked for ages and she told me about the dogs they had available. They had a young brother & sister that had been placed together and never been separated that they were hoping to place together. I told her I'd call her back and asked Julio if he wanted to go see them. We both decided that if we went & saw two dogs, we'd come home with two dogs (course now I wonder "so what was wrong with that?"). We decided that we would do "the puppy thing" again. I called second hand back and she gave me a couple of phone numbers for breeders.

The next day I called one of the breeders . After a very long, very pleasant conversation she asked me "Do you go home for lunch?" I said no, we use to when we lived 5 miles from work, but now we live too far. Well, the woman was furious! She completely changed her attitude and berated me for thinking I could have a dog and leave it alone all day while we were at work!

Well, now I was petrified that this woman would "blackball" me with the "Sheltie People". If I had known then about these DNA lists, I probably would have had a heart attack!! All day I thought about ALL the people I know that work all day and have beautiful, HAPPY, well treated dogs and that night I called Sue Christie. In our conversation she told me that if I was looking for a smaller size Sheltie, Lisa Martin at Wisconsin Sheltie Rescue had a 12 pound female that had just had puppies and chances were pretty good her pups would be small (another story for Lisa). She said she would contact Lisa for me and that she was leaving the next day for a show in Texas.

Well, I waited & waited and no call from this Lisa Martin person! I knew Sue wasn't home, so I called Dorothy Christiansen, and she said she would check with Lisa for me. I believe I got an e-mail that night. Now, Lisa would probably have to help with my memory, because once the excitement kicked in I was flying high!!! I know I talked to Lisa SOMEHOW and got that damn application thing taken care of and Sue Christie did my home inspection.

I was sooooo... nervous. When she said "I wish I was a dog so I could live here" I thought I'd faint! When Sue first came in, she said she was so surprised to get a call from Lisa to do my home inspection because when she talked to Lisa for me all the pups had been adopted! That was why I hadn't heard anything. Well, it turns out someone from Illinois decided to adopt an older dog from IL rescue, freeing up one of the puppies! She was MEANT to be ours!!! (We have one of those stories for Koda also - it was meant to be!)

Lisa was meeting Keith & Susan in Beloit, WI on Saturday 15 November 1997 to give them the Pup's Mother, Lacey and she said I could meet them also if I wanted, and she would bring Tiffy (that's right, Tiffy III. Lisa says my family is afraid they'll forget their dog's name - my parents are on their Princess III - but I told her its LOVE) so I could see her, but that she would have to go back to be spayed. Then Lisa let me know that the Vet was going to Spay Tiffy a couple of days early so we wouldn't have to make the trip twice.

Sooooooooooooo..... 15 November 1997. I think we left the house about 9am. We hadn't gone too far and it started to SNOW! I knew Lisa was coming from a longer distance and I was so afraid she wouldn't make it! We got up to the border and found the "Cheese" place Lisa had told us about, Cornelliers and it was COLD and rainy/snowy. I went in the store to explain what we were doing with the dogs and ask if it was possible to come inside somewhere to make the exchange. The manager opened the back door and let us use her office. When I went back to tell Julio we could go inside there was Lisa in the jeep with him and a little cage in the back - which is where I got in of course!

Tiffy was facing away from me, so Lisa turned her around and I started crying and Julio said "Oh there she goes"!! Keith & Susan arrived and we all went inside - and YES, I have PICTURES!! On the way home, the further we drove the more it snowed, I was so grateful that we had decided to meet in the morning and not the afternoon, because I don't think we would have made it. Keith & Susan had to go clear across Illinois to get home, plus Lisa had to go all the way back to Chilton. (We lucked out, we're only an hour from Beloit).

Now ask Lisa about the 1st WSR reunion and how she wouldn't let Cody out of her sight...............

Some of you might be doing the math from the beginning of this and say HEY, TiffyII wasn't even cold yet and they were looking to replace her. I know we all handle our grief differently. For me it was the need to have that little fur ball in my lap. The Nurse I used to work with is an artist. She did a beautiful portrait of my Tiffy II which I have hanging on the wall so you can lay on the couch and see the painting. You would have to ask Tiffy how long it took me to stop crying while holding her and looking at that painting! When Tiffy was a pup she figured "oh there goes the water works again!" Now of course, she's very concerned if I cry, but back then it was "Just normal procedure".

She helped me through a very difficult period and I'll always love Lisa Martin just for being Lisa Martin :)