"Written by Shadow's New Fur-Ever Family"
Emotional rollercoaster! That's what today was.
At 6:30 a.m. we headed out to pick up a dog that we rescued, Otto, later renamed by Dominic as Khari. Khari means kingly like in Somali I believe. Otto was a beautiful Basenji mix that both he and I fell in love with. We packed his golden name tag, collar, leash, food, toys and everything else we bought for him, loaded Balto in the car and headed to Bristol, CT.
When we arrived, we met Kathy, founder of Fetching Hearts Rescue!
We were so excited to get Khari. When the transport vehicle from TN finally arrived, Khari was as handsome as we imagined. The meet and greet started off well, then he and Balto met. That went well, but only briefly. Sadly, after several attempts, it was clear they were never going to be compatible. "This isn't going to work", are never the words you want to hear when your heart is set. BUT! It simply wasn't meant to be and my heart just needed to accept that. I would NEVER put any dogs life/happiness at risk, especially these dogs who have already had it "ruff", because of my "wants".
Luckily, there was another dog who was potentially being considered by a young couple, but later found he was just too mellow for them. Otto, however, was just what they were hoping for. Kathy swapped dogs and we each fell in love with eachother's potential furbaby. Even better, Balto and him didn't mind each other, to the point that Kathy felt comfortable sending us home with him.
I am so grateful she did!! Both of them slept the entire way home, today was stressful on them, too. When we got home and settled in, they began to interact more. Shadow began coming out of his shell and Balto learned he wasn't that bad. We even went outside and Balto and Shadow played together, if only for a brief moment! I think they will be just fine!
Adopting an animal is life saving in so many ways! You save the animal you adopt, and make room for another in the process. They end up saving you, too. Just in ways you didn't know you needed saving.
Being the person responsible for handing an animal over to an adopter is not easy. The only thing that matters is the animal you are saving. Heart broken or not, the rescue is forced to tell you the truth, the reality that you and/or your dog are not a match for each other, for whatever reason. You have to trust them and trust that they know. Kathy, and Dean, had to do that today. I'm sure it's as painful for them as it is us. They want it to work out just as much as we do. Sadly, that's not always the case. But today, there was another dog available and we ended up bringing him home. Today, it all worked out. Today, all of their dogs were adopted. Today, our hearts were filled a little more.
Welcome home, Shadow Jayce St. Pierre! You will never be returned again!