Friends of Homeless Animals fundraiser Barktoberfest

Today was a fun day.  We went to Barktoberfest which is FOHA's (Friends of Homeless Animals) yearly fundraiser.

Theo did GREAT!  He loved all of the attention - from the volunteers and from strangers who just wanted to meet him.

                

              

He was great with all of the other dogs around and was exhausted by the time we got home.

With Spartacus, another FOHA Alumni
who was at the rescue for a quite a while.  

We got a lot of freebies from the vendors and purchased a gift basket that FOHA had for purchase.

The best part was that we got to hear his story.  We met the person who originally picked him up from Southern Virginia.  She said that she thought he was an owner surrender.

The other story we got to hear was when he was surrendered from the adopter who had him for 2 months.  He was dropped off at Dog University for training. He ended up reacting to the situation and acting aggressive towards the trainer.  The trainer ended up telling the adopters that he should be returned to the rescue.  FOHA came and got him back.  The volunteer said that the trainer had been using a animal control pole like this to get him in the crate at night and to lead him around.  She told us that when they went to pick him up, they could hear him growling and the trainer pulling him down the stairway to him.  She said that as soon as Theo saw her and Jack, the volunteer who we met and still keep in touch with, Theo recognized them and his body relaxed.

The adopters have put a bad review on Yelp! saying that FOHA doesn't let adopters know of the history of the animal.  SO NOT TRUE! We read the surrender papers and how he was "aggressive" towards others.  ANY dog is going to become aggressive when put into an unfamiliar situation and with a stranger.  PLUS - Shar Peis are known for challenging, independent, stubborn, and LOYAL.  What kind of trainer doesn't know the KNOWN personalities of a breed?

I will say this - we SAW that personality in Theo during his first few days.  He challenged us to see who was in charge/whether he could trust us.  We saw such a change in him within the first month.

Theo is an AWESOME dog.  He has fit into our lives and we are so happy to have him in our lives. We love him A LOT and was meant to be with us.  It makes me so sad that he had to go through what he went through.  I'm so glad it wasn't as bad as it could have been.  What if the adopter didn't take him back to the FOHA?  What if they had just put him down?  It's amazing how good he is considering what he's gone through.

We've made it through 3 days!

It seems like Theo has been with us for longer than 3 days.  He has totally settled in.

Sunday afternoon, we went for a family walk and met some neighbors that we didn't know.  Monday I stayed home and made sure he was doing ok.  Tuesday, we met a neighborhood kid and he did fine. We met a dog that I didn't know and he did fine.  Also on Tuesday I had a meeting in the morning so Theo was left alone for 2 hours and NOTHING! He was ok!

Today, we had a delivery and he was fine with the guys.  We kept him outside and then Dan took him for a walk.  This afternoon, we walked over to our neighbor's house, who I knew would love to meet him.  He was great.

Theo is a great dog.  We can put our hand down by his food, we can play and put our face down by his.

He is so laid back.  During the time I work, he just hangs out on the couch.  I think this was meant to be.

The day is finally here.....

The last month as been so emotional.  We have been stalking rescue websites for the last couple of months, but within the last month, we have actually been going to see dogs.

We knew we wanted a pup that is totally different looking than Esa or Zed - even though we are partial to huskies, shepherds, and terriers.  We knew we didn't want a golden retriever, a pitbull, or Australian shepherd.  We just waited to see what came to us.  We knew when we saw the pup, we would know.

It all started with me seeing a puppy online at Wolf Trap Animal Rescue.  I felt the same way I felt when I saw the picture of Esa.  I had sent in an application on a Monday and followed up with an e-mail to see what the next step would be (if we would be able to meet her or the next step in the adoption process).  I got an e-mail back saying that she would be at the public adoption which is first come, first serve and suggested that we get there by 9 am (on the website, it says 11 am, adoptions start at 12 noon).  So, Saturday, we headed out to Tyson's Corner and got there right at 9 am.

We were 3rd on the list, and then when we were asked what puppy, we were once again, 3rd on the list for the same pup.  We waiting and waited - along with tears from me.  We asked about the process.  Basically they just look over the application, and you get the pup - no what is best for the pup, who would give it the best home.  So of course she was taken by the first person (who got there at like 7 am when the store opened).

The next day, we went to Petsmart in Casacdes to visit Lost Dog rescue.  I needed to it get over the previous day's emotional rollercoaster.  We did see one dog that was really nice, but he was getting over a surgery on his leg.  But, not the dog calling to us.  None of the dogs (except one) that we were looking at on the website were there.  There was one dog that I was interested in looking at was there.  He was nice, but not the one.

The next weekend we went to Homeward Trails.  Had a couple of dogs in mind that we saw on the website.  They have a lot of dogs that are from the meat trade circle.  There was one dog that we really liked.  We walked away to think about it, and she was adopted.

During this whole time, I have been following Shenandoah Shepherd Rescue on Facebook.  It's a new rescue, and the dogs have been pulled from Texas and Florida high kill shelters.  A lot of them have medical issues, but there were several dogs we were interested in visiting (you could not visit until you have submitted an application).  So the next Tuesday, I was planning on sending in the application.  Low and behold, one of the rescues had puppies that were a surprise - and when would they be 8 weeks - a week after my birthday.  I went ahead and submitted an app.

We also had been looking at Friends of Homeless Animals.  They are also a rescue that you have to submit the application before visiting the first time.  The next Sunday, (the 5th) we went there with our list of dogs who we wanted to see.  Several of them were immediately taken off because the group was afraid that the dog would jump our 4 foot fence.  We walked around and got a couple of different dogs that we decided to look at.  The first dog we looked at (that wasn't on our original list) was Bobby.  Our first dog on our list, Quincy, was out on a walk when we asked to see him.  Bobby was FULL of energy.  We played "fetch" (or at least throw the ball) with him.  He wouldn't drop the ball at all.  Liked him, but a little too much energy.

We then saw Quincy.  He was great on the leash and was a little playful on the walk (a little bit of the zooms), then we went into a play area.  He was just kind of walking around in the play area, but played with us and a toy.  We really liked him for decided to ask about the next steps.

We sat down and had our interview and then decided to think about it overnight because we had an appointment for a house visit from Shenandoah Shepherd Rescue.  So I wanted to wait and see what happened with that visit.  We (or should I say I) didn't know if we wanted a puppy or something a little older.

So after thinking about the pros and cons of a puppy vs. an older dog and then the pros and cons of getting a shar pei, we decided to go with Quincy!


Thursday night, we had our house visit and today, he is HOME.