Back just before Connecticut closed because of COVID 19, we rescued a little (70lbs) golden hound mix named Dempsey. I personally had the pleasure of fostering him for 2 days while his new family arranged to make the trek from New Jersey (almost 4 hours).
They met Dempsey and fell in love. When we reached out a couple of months later, everything seemed to be a perfect match. Then we received a call a month later from a devastating family who informed us that they could no longer keep Dempsey. Given their age and his energy level, size (and leash pulling) they could no longer take care of Dempsey the way he needed.
They surrendered him to us and begged us to find him a wonderful home full of life and love.
Within just 1 day of being put on the adoption list - another adopter was found. But what we thought would be another great match, turned out to be a disaster. The new adopter had poor Dempsey less than a day and requested we take him back.
This poor pup just couldn't catch a break. His original owner passed away and before he was even 2 years old - he had lived in 7 different homes! He started suffering from Separation Anxiety, fear of other dogs, fear of anything new, and most of all - it felt like he'd just given up on people!
Concerned about some information we received from the latest adopter, we had Dempsey accessed by a Certified Trainer. They told us what we already suspected but confirmed, with some work, Dempsey would be a great fit to any home as long as they took the time to train him, love him, and most of all - show him that he would never leave again.
In all honesty, if I hadn't already had two dogs myself - I would have adopted Dempsey instantly.
After a month, we finally found The One. Given how many times Dempsey had been moved and rehomed - we wanted to make sure this was a PERFECT fit so this would be the last time. I personally met with Dempsey's new family a total of 3 times making up several long hours - so they could meet him and get to know him the way I knew him and fall in love with him the way I had.
While Dempsey is still learning to deal with his separation anxiety, his new family has starting bringing him to Doggy Daycare, has gone to several doggy parks, and most of all - couldn't love him more.
