Welcome Home New (& Old) Doggies!!!

No crafty post today, but a WELCOME HOME to New & Old Doggies!  (This is going to be a long one!!)

As some of you know, Cindy and I volunteer at the CT Humane Society.  I am SO happy that I got involved in this type of volunteer work. Some days are difficult, but most days are a joy - when you give these shelter dogs love and attention until they get adopted to (what we hope) is their forever home.  I have two wonderful stories to share today from our shelter.

Meet Buddy and Buster:

These boys came into our shelter about a week ago. They were surrendered because a new baby was coming into the house and the owners decided to bring them in.  Buddy is a basset/collie mix and Buster is a pure breed basset hound.  While I was in Chicago this weekend, my neighbor, Tracy, texted me to ask about them both. She recently had to put her dog down and they grew up with Bassets, so when she saw the "boys" she was very interested.  Needless to say, she went up and met them, and decided they belonged with her!! Yipeee!!!!

Here they are after a walk yesterday!!  TOO CUTE!

Story Number Two goes like this!! 

 Meet Tiny:

Tiny is estimated to be about 8 years old. About 8-10 months ago (might even be longer than that) he was surrendered to our shelter with his Dachshund brother because of a divorce.  The Dachshund got adopted quickly, but Tiny has bad eyes and some sort of skin allergy, that made his skin flake black "stuff" and he had a terrible odor to him.  The staff and volunteers, especially a gal named Gretchen, tried numerous things to help ease his allergy, learn the causes, diet changes, visits to different vets and twice weekly baths. Tiny seemed to have gotten well enough to go up for adoption and he went to a home with an older gentleman, who just loved him. But, the smell was too strong, and the man's daughter's didn't think Tiny was a good thing for the father. So, he was returned to us again.

More vet visits ensued and he finally went to a doggy dermatologist that gave us a diagnosis. He started to respond to treatment and his skin improved and smell dissipated. We were quite hopeful for him.

And out of nowhere......the Manager received a phone call from Tiny's original owner asking what happened to the two dogs that he surrendered and stated that he finally landed on his feet after his divorce. Got a house with a yard and was trying to get his "family" back together. We could NOT have been more shocked!

So, after discussing it with the staff (& Gretchen) because she donated a LOT of her own funds for his care, the decision was made to return Tiny to his original owner and he came and picked him up on Saturday!!!!

WONDERFUL ENDING TO TINY'S STORY!!!

And lastly - not from CT Humane Society - but from a rescue in Georgia - meet Kodak:

He is a year and 1/2 old collie/golden mix that our friend's adopted this week. He made his journey up from GA via a plane to LaGuardia airport and is now residing in Connecticut!!!

If you are looking to bring a new dog into your home, please allow them an adjustment period.  They are not going to be PERFECT on the first or second day - might even take a month or two.

I found this Site that has a lot of wonderful information about bringing a new dog to your home.

The first day I brought Layla (below) home - she bit my foot and shook it  pretty violently. Thankfully I had a large slipper on - but I knew she had issues and allowed her time to settle in. We knew she was abused in her past and she needed to learn to trust us and that we weren't EVER going to hurt her. We were careful with her and she had to learn the rules of our house (and that biting is NOT allowed) and she has now turned into a lovely addition to our family.

Not sure if you've made it this far, but if you have - Thanks - and Welcome Home Doggies!!!

Maria