It’ time for another edition of Top Ten Tuesday. This week’s topic is “dynamic duos.” If you’re thinking Aragorn and Arwen, Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy, or Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, think again.

Because this week we’re featuring one of the most Dynamic Duos we’ve ever read: Barby Keel and Bailey.

Who? You’re saying. I’d be saying that too if I hadn’t recently read Barby Keel’s Will You Love Me? The Rescue Dog That Rescued Me.

Barby is the author of the Foster Tails series. She’s also the founder and head honcho at the Barby Keel Animal Sanctuary in Sussex, U.K.

“Bailey” is a horribly abused and mistreated greyhound who’s dumped at the sanctuary’s gate on a sodden, freezing night. The poor dog is so far gone, he isn’t expected to last the night.

Against all odds, Bailey rallies.

The rest is an extraordinary story about the power of unconditional love and compassion, both human and canine. The author tells how the gentle greyhound slowly becomes a “kindred spirit” as she faces her own challenges, both physical and emotional.

Told with immense honesty, empathy, and a Mount Everest of emotion, this true story packs a wallop as it shows how caring for a sick or injured animal can result in human healing, too. Indeed, Barby and Bailey’s story is one of the most touching and uplifting we’ve ever read. (See our full review here.)

That’s why Barby Keel and Bailey are topping this week’s edition of Dynamic Duos.

FYI: The Barby Keel Animal Sanctuary is:

a non-profit making charity rehoming or providing permanent refuge for abused, abandoned and unwanted animals. We operate a no destruction policy.

More Dynamic Duos

Some more Dynamic Duos who also made the cut (in no particular order):

– Old Dan and Little Ann from the Wilson Rawl’s story about a boy growing up in the Ozarks with his two redbone hound dogs, Where the Red Fern Grows. A beloved classic.

– Wilbur and Charlotte from E.B. White’s barnyard classic, Charlotte’s Web. “Some pig!”

 – Agba the stable boy and Sham, the magnificent desert stallion who becomes the legendary Godolphin Arabian in Marguerite Henry’s King of the Wind.

–  Winn Dixie and Opal Buloni from Kate DiCamillo’s Because of Winn Dixie. Unforgettable.

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– Elsa the Lioness and Joy Adamson from Adamson’s Born Free: A Lioness of Two Worlds.  The true story of an African lioness and the humans who loved her enough to set her free. One of the most powerful and poignant “animal stories” I’ve ever read. For my full review, click here.

Who would you add?

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