As we began ascending the first long hill from the street where our house sits, into the ravine yesterday afternoon, we came abreast of a couple we haven't seen in years. When my husband retired twenty years ago he would often come across this couple with their dog, when he embarked on his morning ravine walk with our Button. Their dog was an absolute character, a lovable, prankish little terrier mix to whom they were devoted.

This is a couple that decided to take in a much larger dog that had been abandoned in the ravine, many years ago. Regular ravine walkers were alerted to the presence of a good-sized, dark-haired dog that would suddenly appear in sight and then abruptly vanish. Its barking signifying to many calls of distress really disturbed us all. And no one could get close enough to discover if the dog had any identifying tags.

But eventually, in an out-of-the-way part of the ravine someone found the dog's den. Whoever had abandoned the dog that left its crate, and inside a blanket, and a food and water dish, both long empty. The dog simply kept returning to what was familiar to it, and which offered it comfort; its crate. But there was no one there to support it, to ensure it could live its life without harm coming to it. It had to forage for itself, but what is there to support a domesticated dog in a wooded area of small wildlife?

Before its den had been discovered people had been leaving food out for it, sprinkled here and there throughout the ravine. But once it became known where the dog went to at night, a trap was set for it. The trap consisting of fresh food and water set out beside its crate. And over a short period of time the dog began to recognize who it was that was leaving it food and water. And it was this couple. Eventually trust was established and the couple took possession of the dog. It lived with them and their initial little dog for as long as its natural life sustained it, in their loving care. That was a dozen years ago. Soon after that dog died, the other did as well, both in their elderly years. They never did commit to another dog in their household.

Instead, they offered to look after other people's dogs, to give others a chance to get away, or at times when people had to look to board their dogs for one reason or another. The last time we had seen them was several winters ago, cleaning up the trails of dog dirt. And so here they were, on a rare foray into the ravine once again. And they offered to us their services should we ever require them. There is no one we would prefer to trust with our little Jack and Jill other than this pair, secure in the comfort of knowing that with them they would be safe and tenderly fulfilled.