Henry was my was my fifth foster dog. I found him on line, just wating for me at the Walton County pound. Since he was a cute dog the workers tried to keep him around hoping some day someone would adopt him. No one did. Poor Henry wasn't quite as cute as his picture what with all the scars on his nose and a dull coat. He even had a tick on his eye lid! I wondered if I was doing the right thing.
Rescuing dogs, or anything I would imagine, is a tricky buisness. Who lives? Who dies? You decide. As in the people world, some dogs just get lucky. The calm quiet dog gets passed up in favor of the "oh my god get me out of here. I will do anything for you, just get me out a here" dog simply because he has not asked for attention. But oh the luck of the quiet dog when the 40 something single guy just looking for quiet partner in life happens to come to the pound. The perfect match can happen, if they can just make it past the kill day. You can get pretty exhistencial when you focus on the randomness of who makes it out of the pound and who doesn't. Sometimes a beautiful well mannered dog goes to the chamber because his owner had a baby or had to move.
The next trick is to not get too attached. Treat the dog as if it were yours, make it attractive to others, and always remember it is temporary. You are providing a nest, a place to regroup and trust people again. Then the dog will leave as soon as they connect with the person they are meant to be with. This was easier said than done with Henry.
Each time you meet with a perspective owner you must prepare to give the dog up.In the time I had Henry we went through two cancelled meetings that ultimately resulted in a rejection, another meeting and rejection, a lady who seemed perfect and was set to adopt Henry but got crazy and backed out the night before we were going to deliver him to her. That's a lot of heart squeezing for a 6 month period. I couldn't understand why no one wanted this dog that I was in love with. No one seemed to connect with him except for me.
Then I got the news that Henry was blind in one eye and had to have the eye removed as he was in extreme pain. I felt terrible, responsible. We had to wait almost a month for the surgery. No one was appying for him and I was beginning to think we would have him forever. In fact, I'd already accepted it.
The surgery went well. Afterwards he laid in my arms, blood seeping from his eye, and just wimpered. I learned a lot about myself in the weeks after Henry's surgery. For every dog experience I have there is a parallel people experience. Taking care of Henry allowed me to explore what it might be like to care for an ailing family member. As difficult as it was to see him in pain I was glad it was me who took care of him.
Almost two weeks after his surgery and hundreds of dollars of donations from friends and family, Henry got an application! The applicant was perfect! She fell in love with Henry right away, even though his prosthetic eye was still monster like. She even had a print out of his adoption page on her fridge. She took him the following day.....I think my heart broke a little bit... But I know he is meant to be with his new owner. And that's the end of that story.
