I have done several posts, sent many tweets and posted lots of pictures on my Facebook page of pets looking for their furever homes.
Some of those pets have been lucky enough to have found that someone special to take them in and care for them.
However, I don’t hear about their lives afterwards. I wonder about them; are they happy, have they settled in alright, do they now have other furfriends to play with?
So I decided to find out!
I asked my friends who have found homes if they would share their stories with me. The response was so overwhelming that instead of doing one post, I will do a weekly feature telling their stories.
You will hear of how they came to their new home, struggles they may have encountered, how it changed the lives of both the pet and the humans involved.
Week 7
Raullie’s Story
Ashley and her husband decided that in addition to the 2 cats they already had, it was time to add a dog into their family.
They were about to move to a home with a backyard and they knew it would be much easier now.
A lot of time was spent doing research for a dog that would fit them best; breeds and sizes that matched their active outdoor lifestyle, rescue or breeder, age etc.
Both grew up with miniature poodles and agreed they were looking for something different and narrowed it down to a large breed, sporting dog, a puppy, as they thought it would be easier to bring it up in a social environment and train it the way they wanted, rather than an older dog with the potential of issues that they might have to work with.
Adopting was rewarding with their cats Chayse and Koda, so Ashley felt they could provide the same new exciting life for a rescued dog.
Ashley constantly checked online adoption sites and local shelter sites. She contacted quite a few, but she always just seemed to miss a dog they were interested in.
They hadn’t visited any dogs in person, as she knew how she and her husband were when it comes to meeting an available pet face to face (hence why they have two cats instead of one).
Finally, one day when Ashley was checking the Hamilton Burlington SPCA site (which she had done every other day that week), Ashley read “1 year old Newfoundland cross”, there was no picture or name. Ashley thought, “wow Newfie was on our short list of selected breeds”, this might be worth taking a look at. Ashley and her husband ventured immediately down to the facility to take a look; she didn’t want to miss another opportunity.
When they arrived, they found available dogs and cats everywhere; it was an adopt-a-thon!
Ashley and her husband wandered the isles considering the other dogs until they came across what they believed to be the Newfie x, “Rollie” (actually pronounced Raullie, which we changed it to).
Raullie was brought out on a leash and they were told to take him for a walk.
Her husband grabbed hold of the leash and Raullie pulled him off in a second, his heart fell for Raullie at that moment!
Ashley instantly fell for him too!
Who couldn’t with that giant Newfie noggin and bubbly personality!
Raullie was pretty emaciated, only about 40 lbs at the time, riddled with fleas and dirt from his time on the streets, but his giant smile and hug-me-puppy-eyes were infectious. Raullie went home with them that day!
Being on the streets for who knows how long, Ashley was surprised how quickly Raullie caught on to the business-happens-outside thing.
They worked very hard with training; completing level three at McCann’s dog training and even dabbled with agility. Raullie had no major behavioural challenges, though he loved to squash a small dog with his big paws for fun if they came across one at the park (which Ashley thought was funny, but obviously not the owner).
Raullie’s now a healthy 70 lb Newf x with the most beautiful long flowing Landseer coat you will ever see. He loves to spend tons of time outside in both the summer and winter, but also enjoys quiet time curled up next to you.
