Posted By Kelly Harding | 4 comments

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 8

Vinnie’s Story

Oh Vinnie

The class-clown

There was no preparing Ashley and Scott for a life with Vinnie!

Because of Ashley’s job, she knows a lot of people involved with rescues.

Ashley was asked if she would be willing to help out if they needed someone to take an Italian Greyhound or two from their rescue.

Ashley and her husband Scott already had two large breed dogs at the time and it was “obvious” to them that a small, fragile, short haired Iggy would not fit with their lifestyle, so they felt they would be a better fit for fostering… boy, they soon  learned how wrong they were.

Not two days after offering up  their home, the woman from the rescue let Ashely know that she would need a foster for her one dog Vinnie.  That same day, Ashley dropped by her home to pick Vinnie up,  she didn’t even have  time to let her husband know who would be boarding with them that night.

When Ashley got home and let Vinnie out of his cage, he instantly ran to Scott on the couch and hopped on his lap.

Scott told Ashley a year later that Vinnie was his then and there, although Ashley did not fall in love with Vinnie right away.

She was still convinced that the breed of dog just wasn’t for their lifestyle.

“Really… he needs a jacket if the temperature drops below 25°C?!?!

“He has onsies and pjs and booties?!?!”

“This is just embarrassing!”

When Ashley had to be away for work for a week, her husband started allowing him to sleep under the sheets to stay warm. “Ok I’m done she thought, Vinnie needs to find a home.”

As much as Ashley loved Vinnie’s unconventional goofy personality and that he snuggled with you all the time to keep warm, he just still didn’t mesh with our lifestyle. He couldn’t go camping or for long walks in the winter.

Ashley can’t pin point exactly when she crossed onto the “Vinnie side” but he stole her heart as well.

Vinnie will always be her husband’s little boy.

Vinnie is the energetic one that can always make both of them laugh. Ashley and Scott both enjoy the hunt to find him new and exciting outfits, and he now even has a voice on Twitter (@choniclesofvin).

Ashley and Scott now know too that it is quite easy to adapt the way you do things. If they go for a long walk in the winter, Vinnie gets his snowsuit on and they pack a blanket in one of the big dog’s backpack. If  they go camping, Vinnie gets pampered at grandma or nana’s house.

It turned out it was actually quite easy to find solutions for Vinnie’s different needs.

The road to where they are now was not a simple one with Vinnie. The one extremely challenging thing they continue to work on him with is his house training. Iggys, Ashely has found out, are quite a difficult breed to house train.

Crate training works extremely well with most breeds, but unfortunately not with Iggys. This was also the reason Vinnie went through a few homes before ending up with Ashley and Scott.

With consistency and perseverance they have got him to where he is today. Vinnie still has the occasional accident in the house (sometimes they are a little more forgiving when it is -30°C) but they are not as frequent as before.

Vinnie doesn’t even realize he is the size he is as he tussles with their other three dogs who are considerably bigger than him.

Vinnie is a favourite when Ashley brings him to work, he can pretty much make anyone fall in love with him with his puppy eyes and a snuggle.

Vinnie is just a reminder that sometimes the unconventional one who you think absolutely will not work, might just be the perfect fit after all!