Although he's technically an "only dog", Billy is part of an extended pack of three and spends a lot of time romping and snoozing with his honorary siblings both at home and a few blocks away at Dogdad's house. One member of our pack is a black dog and, at 60lbs, just about sneaks into the "big" category.
Buster's story exemplifies the problems faced by BBDs waiting for homes all over the country. True to form, he wasn't actually the one who originally drew Dogdad to visit this particular shelter. His roommate had adopted a pitbull, Clover, a couple of years earlier and he was looking to add another pitty to the family. A big, brown guy called Biff caught his eye and after calling the rescue and hearing of all the pit mixes they had available, roommates and dog piled into the car (with me riding along for the experience) and made the journey out there. Ultimately of course, the decision was to be Clover's and in this strange, rather exciting environment she was feeling a little snippy. Nevertheless, despite a slew of non-starters, she made a few friends and we all hung out for a while in one of the meeting rooms. None seemed to have quite the right energy level for the group and eventually an adoption counsellor came out to chat in a bit more detail about what exactly we were looking for. "How about Buster?" she suggested. We racked our brains and came up with a vague memory of a dog that the receptionist had already brought out but Clover had not reacted well to. Insisting that the boxer-lab mix was actually very dog friendly, we settled on walking them together in the parking lot rather than pushing Clover with another head-to-head meeting. Sure enough, the dogs met calmly and were quite happy to trot along beside each other. Heading back into the meeting room (it being a chilly, dark, wet November night) Buster began to worm his way into everyone's affections, greeting everyone politely, interacting beautifully with Clover and clambering into my lap to get some cuddles. When Dogdad told the counsellor that he'd like to adopt him she seemed almost surprised, "Are you sure?" She revealed with some trepidation that Buster's original owner had surrendered him claiming that he kept "running away" - based apparently on two occasions on which he'd been left unattended in a yard with an open gate and had wandered off. Undeterred, Dogdad's references were called, application approved and Buster clambered into the car, lay down and snuggled for the whole return journey.
Buster was a staff favorite at the shelter and there were clearly a few tears when he left. He proved to be house-trained from day one, dog-friendly, gentle with people of all ages, didn't chew, bark or whine, loved to play fetch but would happily pass out on the couch for a whole day if given the option, walked well on a leash within a month, quickly became a favorite at the vet's office ... and never showed the slightest inclination to "run away" from his new home. I like to say that Buster was just waiting for the perfect home. A more contented creature you'll rarely meet and he is very much loved. Dogdad once showed me some photos that the shelter had sent a few weeks after the adoption. They were the petraits photos taken against the familiar grey velvet background that, after spending too much time on adoption sites, I'd come to recognize as a sign of a dog that was having problems finding a home. Nobody wanted Buster.
This gem of a dog sat in a shelter for over three years.
No comments:
Post a Comment