When One Door Opens, Another Door Opens?

Our boy Goldie got adopted this weekend, YAY! He went home with a family who came to visit him the previous weekend and came back this week with their dog, Trigger. Goldie had already demonstrated a liking for the family, especially the teenaged son. Now he was meeting the family dog and boy, oh boy, did they hit it off right from the start! After visiting outside they came in and still wanted to play. Seems Goldie finally found that perfect home we'd been waiting for. It seems like just yesterday he came in afraid of anything and everything. It didn't take him long to figure things out. He loved my little guys, but his true happiness showed a few weeks ago when Pollock came to stay with us. With them matched in size and temperment, they became fast friends. That's when I knew he would need a dog buddy in his life. Goldie became even more confident and even started to like the leash (as long as Pollock was with him.) So, Sunday Goldie went home to his new forever family to be a dog that's loved and cherished the way he should be. Heck, he didn't even glance back when he left. He knew he was going home.

Pollock, on the other hand, was relatively distraught when I came home without Goldie that day. He searched the house for him for a couple of hours after I came home. It really surprised me, but he and Goldie did play a lot. Course, a little extra love and attention fixed him right up. He does love to play though and so I thought perhaps I should see if there is another male in the group that would fit with him temporarily. There wasn't one big enough, mellow enough, and playful enough to fit in here with the pack I already have. Hence the door opening for another dog, Max, who is coming to me from JCAC later today or tomorrow. When the folks sent a picture I asked more about him. The lady referred to Max as being similar to Pollock. Okay, Ellen, let's do it. So Max will be meeting my pack sometime in the next couple of days. Hopefully he will fit in as easily as Pollock. I'm lucky that in the summer, the month of July, I usually have time off so I can do this. When these three (Blue is still here as well) get adopted, or at least 2 of them, I'll be back to one dog at a time during the school year.

It's so tempting to take as many as I can squeeze in, but as the group was talking about just a few weeks ago, we all want to make sure that we are giving our fosters the best possible situations while they are waiting for their forever homes. Being that we are only humans who have jobs and other things like everyone else, we can only do so much. It can be so frustrating to try to figure out how to convince folks to spay and neuter or stop just dumping their dogs on the streets or somewhere else assuming that they will get a home no matter what. The truth is, they don't. The few that we are able to help are the minority, even with all of the rescue groups out there. Until the general population realizes that pet overpopulation is a problem that affects everyone, we continue to try to educate folks and love and care for as many as we can and hope that things will get better. In the meantime, when a new family opens it's home to a rescue dog, it means we can open ours to another that needs it.