Her master had waited patiently for this night. Carefully, he had planned the birth of the puppies that were to be his greatest achievement. Week after week, he had watched the changes overtaking her, as the beautiful Collie approached this night.

She was a champion. Tracing all the way back to the best dog he had ever known, she carried the hope of her bloodline and the honor of a kennel name going all the way back to 1940. Her master smiled with hope as she neared the special moment when new life would enter the world, and refresh their lives. Things would be good. Things would be beautiful. Things would be perfect.

It wasn’t always like this. The birth of puppies wasn’t always quite so important. But, things had changed. Her master spoke more softly to her as he caressed her face. Not that he didn’t always pet her and play with her. He did. But, this time, there was something more gentle in their time together. Their walks together, lingering over a leaf, or a stone or a feather, were almost timeless … Their conversations, in which he poured out his soul, were becoming longer and more intense. The bond between them, between the master she had known from the moment of her own birth, and which her mother had known before that, and her mother before that – for generations – had strengthened and taken on a new meaning. Something was happening out there, in his world. With the love a dog has for the most important one in her life, she could sense it. She could feel it. Except for something bothering him, their time together now was more important than ever. She would fix things for him. Tonight, she would give him her greatest gift.

As the birth of her puppies approached, the faithful dog grew restless. Understanding the signs which he had seen so many times before, her master waited beside the whelping box with he favorite blanket, patiently reading the newspaper. Not far from her box, fresh water called to her. Outside, in the shimmering moonlinght, a dove cooed it’s lullabye.

And then it began. Wave after wave from deep within her, like the ocean of her ancestors cascading to the shores; her master’s voice comforting her; her master’s hands cradling each puppy as it came forth. Five puppies. Five wiggling, squealing puppies to be cared for and loved.

Nobody saw it right away. As she lay there nursing her sons and daughters, her master examined each puppy, making sure they were happy. Making sure everything was OK.

He touched each little face. He ran each tail through his fingers. He counted every toe.

Five puppies. Whose lives would they touch? What far-away places might they live in? Over the years, the dogs had brought him many friends as they went forth into their life adventures. But, why is that one puppy crying?

As the days went by, the puppies grew strong. Their eyes opened and they became more alert. …. Why isn’t that one puppy trying to stand up like the others? Maybe he’s just slower than the rest. Not all puppies are the same. He’ll catch up.

The brothers and sisters, future ambassadors for their breed, looked around at each other and the world into which they were born. Ah! So that’s what the master’s hands look like. So that’s what his face is like … so that’s Momma! They wondered all the normal things that puppies are curious about. But, they didn’t wonder nearly as much about the brother who couldn’t keep up with them, as the master did.

One day, as their mother watched, the master gathered the puppies up. Placing them in a box, he carried the box to a car and drove away. Restless, the mother dog waited, pacing back and forth, whining softly, balancing worry for her puppies against the trust that her master would not harm them.

He arrived at the veterinarian’s clinic on time, got past the friendly amenities with the staff – Puppies! – and entered the sterile room that always smelled of antiseptic. Placing each puppy on the slippery examining table, he waited silently for the young veterinarian, a recent college graduate, to make her pronouncement: Four Perfects and an Almost.

Almost?

“Poor baby! There’s something wrong with his legs. Can’t you tell? I can’t tell for sure without an X-Ray. But, there’s definitely something wrong.”

“I’d like to know,” said the master.

As they studied the X-Ray on the lighted panel on the veterinarian’s wall, it was clear that something was wrong.

“He’s not going to make it,” said the vet. “There’s no way he can walk with legs like that. It’s up to you, but he’ll never be normal.”

“Maybe I don’t want him to be,” said the master. “Maybe I just want him to have a chance.”

In the weeks that followed, the master had many things to consider. What had caused this defect? From years of experience, he knew there had never been such a defect in his kennel. He had known and raised the puppy’s parents, grandparents, great-grandparents for decades and never before had such a puppy been born. What had happened? What had gone wrong?

Was it something he gave the mother? Could it have been a chemical with which he had treated her for fleas or other parasites? Maybe he had given her the wrong thing too early in her pregnancy and the puppy was affected in this way. He must try everything in his power to understand and make things right.

As the puppy grew, the master seemed to forget about his own troubles. Perhaps it was the puppy’s bright mind, his curiosity about everythng around him, or his determination to catch up with his litter-mates no matter how far away they ran.

“That’s life, little fella,” his master said, wrapping the puppy’s legs in splints made of tape and popsickle sticks. “You’ll get used to it.”

But, the litle puppy didn’t get used to it.

Instead, the little puppy grew stronger and discovered that he could smack his brothers on the head with his front leg bandaged in the popsickle stick cast. He learned that he could pivot his body on a back leg and spin in any direction faster than his litter-mates. By pulling himself forward, his chest and back had developed muscles and strength.

“Good boy!” his master would say. “Keep going!”

Day after day, the master and his puppy worked together. Day after day, the mother dog watched the man and the puppy, and, with the uncanny sixth sense of a Collie, she knew her son would live to have great adventures and see many things. She knew, because their beloved master had a secret of his own. As a young boy, he, too, had once been told he would never walk again, and Lady Luck had smiled on him.

“Keep trying, boy!” the master laughed. “You can do it! You can show them! You can show them all!”

They were beautiful.

They were wise.

They were almost perfect.