Grieving is hard. Letting go is harder. Everything in the house reminds me of Cali, but I’m healing slowly. Trying to focus on the happy memories.
A rescue I volunteer for put out a call for fosters yesterday. They needed seven fosters. I looked through all the little faces, all the different colors, and one caught my eye. She wasn’t a chubby little 3 month old puppy. She was a one year old lab mix that looked like she was holding the weight of the world on her little black shoulders.
I knew I wasn’t ready for a puppy, but maybe I could deal with this older dog? I wrote the volunteer coordinator and offered to come meet the dog, but someone had beaten me to it. OK, that’s good I thought, at least she found a foster home.
A couple of hours later, I got a message that the other foster family picked a puppy, and the other dog was still available. I replied right away and said I would come get her. It seemed meant to be!
When I went to pick her up, she was leaning into the legs of the volunteer that brought her out. She seemed so scared. Who knows what this sweet girl has been through in the past year?
I bent down to her and diverted my eyes, eventually she approached and I was able to pat her velvety, soft ears. She was reluctant to leave the safety of the shelter, but she followed me with a little reassurance. We walked outside for a couple of minutes before I tried to convince her to get in the car. She wasn’t interested, but she let me pick her up and put her in.
The drive home was a little chaotic. She was clearly scared and talking to her helped, but not enough. She tried to climb from the backseat to the front, then she climbed in the back. I cracked a window for her and she calmed a little as she sniffed the air.
Once we got home, she got right out of the car, but didn’t want to go in the house. We walked around the yard for 20 minutes or so, sniffing the air, the snow, the mud. Eventually we approached the door again and she followed me inside.
I did what I needed to do while she basically stayed glued to my legs. I fed her dinner, but she seemed too nervous to eat. Eventually we settled in the living room, where she immediately jumped up and snuggled on the couch. We try to keep the couch as a cat safety zone, so I set up a blanket on the floor for her, and sat on the floor with her. I had to correct her a couple of times, but she eventually figured out that the floor was her place. As I put on the TV and relaxed, she stayed close, but sniffed her way around the room, and eventually ate her dinner.
We had a nice quiet night, lots of pats and snuggles. She didn’t want to go into her crate to sleep, but with some treats and coaxing, she went in. She barked a few times and settled down.
This morning we went for a nice walk around the neighborhood. She’s pretty good on a leash, stays right by my side. The hard part is not tripping over her because she wants to be SO close. She’s currently sitting next to me while I type, I think this girl would be an amazing companion for someone who works from home. She’s a perfect medium size, calm and so very sweet.
My heart is so happy to be able to help this girl, and selfishly to have a dog to take care of, and collar tags to jingle in the house. I hope she finds her forever home quickly, but maybe not too quickly!