We have had so many amazing adoptions lately, we almost don’t know what to say or think anymore. That may be “business as usual” for most “big” rescues, but for us? It’s almost beyond comprehension. Facebook, the internet and social media as a whole has changed our entire game the past five years. We’ve gone from tiny to mighty, and our dogs—several of whom weren’t even “adoptable” (Rocket and Nick, just to name a couple) by standards—have found their perfect homes.
The most recent? Diamond! This adorable, fluffy ’n scruffy girl, lived with us for a couple of years, waiting for her forever home. Everyone who saw her online and in person fell in love with her, but she had a special temperament, with other dogs and with kids. Several meet ’n’greets and foster situations with this sweet but sometimes dominant girl did not work out. We were always hopeful … and always disappointed for her when it didn’t. She had so much love to give.
Enter, a couple from British Columbia, Canada. They had lost both of their Jacks to cancer, which is a big sympathetic hole in most of our hearts. Almost every member of Team Russell has lost a dog, family member or both to the nasty “c word.” That said, we are very leery about sending any of our dogs outside of the Southeast, much less across the country … and into another country. It’s not because we don’t want to; we simply don’t have the resources to do it the way we want to do it.
We’re not the kind of people who feel safe putting our dogs, whom we all grow to love individually, on a plane or on a van without a transport or rescue group we don’t know, and we would never fly them commercial without someone to chaperone them. As much as we want to find them homes, their safety is our first concern. And what happens if it doesn’t work out? We don’t have a transport system to bring them back—and we always offer to take them back. We never want to see our babies returned to a shelter, where most of them originally were.
That said? Arndt and Inez were awful convincing. Their application was flawless, and they were willing to fly out to visit us, meet their perfect dog, take him/her around with them on vacation for a week around Georgia and the Southeast to make sure it was all good before heading home, and, once home? Make it work, one way or another.
So … we gave it a chance … They flew in and showed up a few weeks ago at rescue, met all of the dogs, and fell in love with our Diamond Girl (now known as Dixie). They completely hit it off during the vacation. and she is now a Canadian girl, living with another dog(!) and a cat. (Yes, we’re stunned!)
Update from Mom? “She has adjusted incredibly well to her new home-it’s like she has always been our dog!!! She is awesome and even gets along with our cat. She gets lots of play time with me as there is a dog beach near our home and many parks around us. Thanks again, we feel very lucky to be her mom and dad.”
