Well the dog is here now and very happy. Vicki named her Loyal Lacy but we just call her Lacy. It's weird that on the evening that she came here, it's like she knew that she would be coming home with us that night. We had been working on her for over a week getting her closer and closer.
Vicki went to her and put the food down. As usual, she ignored it but this time, she slipped through the gate and waited, looking at Vicki. The gates were chained and a padlock hung there but there was a gap that Vicki slipped through. The dog took a few steps and stopped looking back at her making sure she was following. Vicki followed her as she continued to stop, waiting, making sure that Vicki was coming. She finally went to the front step and sat down. Vicki spoke to her, "Is this where you used to live?"
When I think of the five years, day and night that this dog sat on that step waiting through the freezing cold and eating whatever she could catch, lonely and alone, my heart breaks for her. But she is happy now and sits on my wife's rocking chair in the living room smiling.