I get to see the dog that we may be adopting, woohoo.
Sparky is a very special dog, I hope things work out well with the adoption!
Sparky came in to the shelter back in August of 2001 when I was a regular volunteer there. He came in with a group of 12 dogs taken out of a tiny trailer that was owned by an elderly man. The dogs knew no one but him, they were all scared out of their wits at any other human. Some of the dogs came around quickly and were adopted out, some were left at the shelter or sent out to foster homes to be worked with. Sparky stayed at the shelter and I would spend a lot of time with him, getting him acclimated to people, and used to being out and about. He turned around really quickly, and was adopted out. He was returned 4 days later, the family said he was having potty problems and they didn't want to spend the time to help him with it.
Sparky was put back up for adoption, I continued to keep after him, but by this time it was getting close to surgery date, and I could no longer volunteer for awhile. Surgery came and went, and just this week we got up there to see the new shelter facility that opened during my 6-7 month absence. None of the dogs looked familiar until I got to Kellie, a female dog who also came in with Sparky, I was shocked to see her still there. I asked around and found out that she was just there for the day, her new mom was a volunteer. That was great to hear that Kellie was in a home, I asked about Kellie's cagemate from back then, his name was Freckles. I was saddened to hear that Freckles had to be put down, so much time in the kennels, and he turned a little too aggressive.
Then I asked about Sparky, fearing what their answer would be. It turns out that Sparky was adopted again during that 6-7 months and returned about 1 week later for the same potty problems. Once again, he was placed back in the kennels for adoption. He did great at the shelter with his potty habbits, but apparently the new homes didn't go over well with him.
He was adopted out a third time, and returned again. This time the family came in with the complaint that Sparky was aggressive with their 6 year old daughter, the shelter employee's couldn't quite believe that, but with the papers stating the reason for return as aggression, he was placed on the list to be euthenized. They later found out that the girl had been pulling at his tail, trying to ride him, and being a pain to him, but it was too late, the complaint was made.
Sparky was due to be put down the next day, but since he'd been a favorite to the shelter employees and a lot of the volunteer's they wanted to hold a burial service for him. His date was pushed back another day so more people could attend. Well, the same person who took in Kellie, stepped up and took Sparky too. She saved him from getting put down, but there was no way that she could plan to keep him. She was only allowed two dogs in her home, he was #3.
We went in Thursday, and my mom said something about adopting Sparky if he had still been there. Terri(who has him) started telling us all what had been happening with him, and was so thrilled to see someone remember him and actually inquire about how he was doing and where he'd gone. She then told us that she wasn't even supposed to be at the shelter when we showed up, that she'd been there earlier in the day and planned to leave before we got there. Meant to be, I think so! hehe.
So, my mom wants to meet sparky again, she'd only seen him once nearly a year ago, but I always had so much to say about him. We're going to see him tomorrow, and see if he still remembers me. I have no doubt that he will remember me, I spent so much time with him. Just a big cuddle bear he is!
If things go well tomorrow, we are going to bring my dog up to meet him the next week. If that goes well, we're doing a trial period at the house, to see how well he does. If all goes well, we will continue the visits until he feels comfortable at the house, and most probably make him our own.
I'm pretty excited about it, this dog was one of those that really pulled at you
I'm sure most, if not all of you know how that goes!
Here's a crummy picture of him that I saved to my computer a long while ago, it was on the webpage for the shelter. I'll be sure to take my digi cam tomorrow
