Bringing Boone Home
It started with this picture.
He had been rescued from a high kill shelter, only 12 weeks old and just hours
away from being euthanized. The whole process of whatever had happened before
he got to the shelter, plus his time at the shelter had just traumatized him.
He was incredibly timid and shy and needed a home with patient caregivers, and
in the best of situations, a confident big brother to help him get his bearings
and come out of his shell.
I stared at the picture for a few seconds and looked into
his eyes. I have seen hundreds of rescue pictures. I follow a lot of rescue
organizations on Facebook, and every now and then, one dog will catch my eye,
or a story will tug at my heart. This was one of them. But this one in
particular felt different. I emailed the rescue contact and asked if there had
been a lot of interest in the dog, whose name at the time was Cameron. She
responded, “No one yet”. I told her we really weren’t looking, I just wanted a
sibling for Bear before he got much older, and something about Cameron got to
me. We emailed a little, back and forth. She checked out my Facebook profile
and the pictures and stories about Bear. She felt like Bear would be THE
perfect big brother for Cameron. She sent me an application, and asked me to “just
fill it out and let’s see”. Cameron, she said, was a special case. The foster
mom was very attached and wanted to make sure he was placed carefully. He was
incredibly sweet, but was having a hard time.
I hadn’t yet talked to my husband about this crazy idea.
We currently had four furry residents in our house. Three
cats and our beloved dog Bear. I can honestly say that Bear is the center of
our world, and we both love him so much, that there is no doubt he is spoiled
and cared for beyond measure. I have, for awhile, wanted to get another dog as
Bear has started sleeping a lot and getting less active, and at five years old,
he doesn’t need to do that. He is only doing that because we are doing that, and
honestly because our schedules have let us do that. Bear loves to play, and we
don’t always make it to the dog park as much as we used to because his energy
level isn’t as intense as it used to be. I didn’t want to wait much longer to
get another dog, because I want him to be young enough to enjoy a playmate.
When I first broached the subject of another dog, my husband
Shea looked at me as if I had completely lost my mind. He loves our animals just as much as I do, and he and Bear are incredibly bonded. But, we aren’t financially in
the best place, we do already have FOUR animals, we are renting and will
probably be renting for a long time to come (which isn’t always easy to do when
you have a small zoo in tow), a puppy is a lot of work, and to top it all off,
I was about to leave for a business trip for six days. He wasn’t even
considering the possibility. All of his arguments were valid, and honestly,
right.
Usually, when I have gone through this before, even
sometimes a rescue would call or contact me about a particular case, something
would happen, someone else would adopt or foster the dog, and the whole situation
would be resolved without my involvement. But in this case, that just didn’t
happen. And usually, every other time, something in me told me it wasn’t right.
This time was different.
Shea knew the person I was when he married me. Within the
first year after we were married, he definitely knew what he had gotten into.
We were still living in South Carolina then, and he was riding with me to a
sales appointment. It was a rainy gray day and we were getting off the
interstate. As we drove on the exit ramp, I saw two dogs wandering precariously
in and out of speeding traffic. They were muddy, the rain was coming down and
drivers were swerving in the bad weather to miss them. I started to pull over
immediately and Shea stopped me. He said something to the effect of “Are you
insane?” I drove a little further and stopped. I looked at him and said, “You
knew who I was when you married me. I am the person who will stop on a rainy,
muddy day and pick up strange dogs. I can’t live with myself otherwise.” I knew
I was with the right person when I saw his face soften as he looked at me and then got out of the car
with me and called for the dogs, who at first seemed to have disappeared, but then
gratefully ran to our car. They jumped in, mud and all. A funny side note to
that day, after they got into the car, they immediately both jumped over the
back seat and all over Shea, licking him in gratitude, but also covering him in
mud. We had to throw away his shirt. But he was such a good sport. We were able
to find a local vet nearby who took them in and called a local rescue after
checking for microchips.
We had agreed to meet the rescue contact at a local pet fair
on the upcoming Saturday, and even though Shea was not on board completely, he
said he knew how I felt and would come with me and see what happened.
Both of us were most concerned about Bear. If Bear was
unhappy or overly jealous, or if this would impact him negatively at all, it
wouldn’t happen. Period.
They brought out this shy little puppy, warning us that he
probably wouldn’t even walk around with so many people around. But when he saw
Bear, a light went on. It was love at first sight. He immediately jumped and romped
and wagged his tail. Bear became a big brother right away.
We had already decided on a name if things worked out…Boone
(for my husband’s college town). Boone’s foster mom was there and the rescue
contact and they were both so happy and touched watching him open up so much
more quickly than they thought he could.
I kept coming back to Shea. I knew he was unsure. I knew he
was right about all his worries. He always says he loves my heart. And despite
his concerns, and everything else, he looked at me then at Bear, and said, “Bear,
let’s take your little brother home.”
I was home for for five days before taking off for a six day
business trip to Chicago. In those five days, I suddenly remembered how hard it
is taking care of puppies. Boone was still very shy for about five hours. Then,
it was as if he suddenly knew he was safe and he bounded through the house, and
romped outside, and ate and ate and ate. (something we couldn’t get him to do
at first). But it was tiring, and non-stop. The thought of leaving Shea alone
with all of this for six days was daunting. I laid awake at night worrying if I
had made the right decision, and if Shea would be ok, and if everything would
work out alright. But, I remembered that I felt the same way when I first
brought Bear home and sometimes felt overwhelmed, and I knew beyond a shadow of
a doubt that bringing Bear home was the best decision ever. I just had to trust
my gut and my heart.
As I prepared to come back from my business trip, I worried.
Six days was a long time for Shea to handle everything alone, especially in the
early days of helping a puppy adjust. But I came home to find that he had
fallen in love with Boone, and vice versa. How could he not? Look at that face!
But I was so relieved. I knew seeing Shea and watching him and Boone that
everything was ok and I had made the right decision.
My love for Bear has only grown, sometimes I think my heart
will burst as I watch him be such a patient big brother. Shea and I both
thought he would be more possessive and jealous about his food, but he has been
surprisingly forgiving. He is learning to share his toys, which is taking a
little more time. But overall, the two boys are romping and playing, Bear is
getting so much more exercise, and they are both having a blast.
I could never have known the love and comfort my animals
would provide in my life. I have been so lucky to find my way to these animals
at just the right moments. I have written before about this, but as much as I
have saved them, they have saved me. There is something so magical about being a part of a rescue animal's journey, about seeing that light come on when they know they are safe, and that everything is going to be ok. It fills my heart, and honestly at times, gives me purpose. Thankfully, my husband understands. We are at full capacity now, though. There's no more room in our house, or our bed for that matter, for any more fur babies for a long time.
But I am so, so thankful that we had room for just one more.
