Tilly
I got a telephone call first thing one Sunday morning in September. A young man who had just started his Freshman year in college had a problem. His two dogs had no place to stay. He had arranged for a family to keep them until he could find and afford to rent a house in the college town, but the family, without warning, one day called and told him to come get the dogs in three hours. When he picked them up, he had no place to keep them and found a veterinary hospital which agreed to keep the dogs for the night - for $40. So he called me to see if Pugsley and Sasha could board in my kennel. And so they came for what ended up being a four month stay. The young man knew he had to find permanent homes for them and placed ads in the local and Philadelphia papers, but neither dog had been housebroken and nothing worked out. I took pictures of the two and made some flyers to post. Then I was referred by another dog person to the amazing Bill Smith. Bill gets his thrills by assisting homeless dogs and going to heroic lengths to see to it that each dog he helps is given the very best chance to be successfully adopted. The dog is spayed/neutered, given up-to-date vaccinations, a physical, and professional grooming if necessary. Some are given basic obedience training. Bill visits the homes of prospective new owners, checks for fenced in yards and comfortable living quarters for the dogs and meets the entire family. Vet references are required. Then the family will have several visits with the dog to see if they get along. Children must be gentle with the dog and parents must supervise sensibly. Assuming all goes well, the family will finally be given the dog to take home. Bill then follows up with more home visits to make sure everything goes smoothly.
One day Bill called me to say the he had a family interested in meeting Sasha. The family made an appointment to visit on a sunny mild winter day and stayed two hour while getting to know Sasha. The Mother and Father are physicans and the two small small children (with incredible vocabularies) told me of their other dog and turtle. Gentle Sasha, who was not even leash broken lat the tiny girl lead her around the yard on leash without ever pulling or jumping, instinctively knew to be careful with the child. At the end of the afternoon, I let them take Sasha home, even though Bill had not done his preliminary home visit first. I just knew it was the right thing for Sasha! Bill made a home visit shortly afterwards and was extremely impressed with the fondness the family had for Sasha and even the housekeeper, who wanted to take her home, but the family would have none of that!
Pugsley was more difficult. My
friend Diane gave him a couple of obedience lessons so that he wouldn't
yank at the leash. I took him to my vet to have him neutered
and Bill called my vet to have the surgery charged to his Visa card.
After a few days, I took Pugsley up to the vet Bill works with in his rescue
work. Bill wanted Pugsley to have a physical and vaccination update
and a professional grooming and trim, since he had such a huge coat.
He did eventually find a good home.
If you have comments, email me at loiskay@terenelf.com
