BiJae was born in June of 1991. We found each other through the Tuolumne County Humane Society in the middle of July 1991. He was a scrappy little pup, but held my heart from the very beginning. The story of BiJae goes back even further than our initial meeting. BiJae, pronounced (bee-jay) is an acronym. The capital B and J are for the true meaning of his name, Buster Junior. Buster was the black lab I had as a young boy. My parents were not letting Buster go with me when I moved out, So I was going t get a black lab and name him Buster Junior, aka, BiJae.

However those that know me and my family know that if I were to name a dog BJ that poor dog would be called as sexual reference all his life. The year prior to BiJae and I meeting I had been dating Heather. I would often tell her sarcastically, "Awe, blow me…" To which she would reply, "blow is just an expression my dear." And so the full name of BiJae was born. He would in fact be Buster Junior, but we were spelling it BiJae. When my uncle asked, "Brian, why would you name your dog Blow Job." I honestly replied, "Blow is Just an expression, BiJae"

I was moving out of my parent house to Southern Oregon in the summer of 1991. I had just graduated from high school and was setting out on my own. After many pleas to allow Buster to move with me I realized my parents weren't going to budge. So I headed to the county animal shelter. I had every intention of getting a black lab pup and he was going to be named, "BiJae." I walked up and down three of the four aisles. Not one black lab pup. I rounded the corner for the fourth and final row of kennels. There in the first kennel was four black lab pups and a malamute Shepard wolf mix.

Upon site, BiJae howled to me, "Aarooooo," as if to say pick me. His whole body wiggled with excitement. The lab pups shied away to the back of the kennel. The next thought through my head told me I had made my decision. "I don't want a dog that's going to shy away." I walked straight to the office and informed them of my decision.

The girls working the office were disappointed. They had all eyed BiJae to take home as their own. I was told his story. He was picked up as a stray near Groveland. I would have to wait ninety six hours incase an owner claimed him. However they assured me they'd seen stories similar to his in the past. They said he was found on a dirt road heading back in to town. They told me they believed that he was most likely dumped in the forest. They told me I could visit him over the time period but the earliest I could pick him up was Monday. I told them I would be back to get him them.

The next four days went fairly quickly. I thought about BiJae, but I didn't go visit him. I wanted to. Thankfully my work kept me very busy. Monday morning came before I realized it. I woke up late so I wasn't able to go directly to the shelter to see if BiJae was still there. Instead, I took a deep sigh and headed to work. I was landscaping for Dr. Peterson. I arrived there and work. All morning I wondered if BiJae would be there. Lunch seemed to never arrive.

I jumped in my truck, not even thinking about stopping for food. I drove right to the shelter, put it in park and marched in to the office. "I'm here to get my dog," I announced with all the confidence in the world that he was still there. In truth I had no idea if he was or wasn't. "We were all hoping you wouldn't show up. Over the past four days he's really won our hearts. We were fighting to see who was going to take him home." With that, a twenty five dollar check, and a big grin, BiJae and I headed home. Who knew then that would be the beginning of the most wonderful relationship ever known to me.