Fate

Two weekends ago the dog I am fostering for a rescue organization, Sunny (now named Sully), met his new parents. While they were waiting over the last two weeks for their homestudy approval we had a chance to get to know each other. These last 2 months I thought the luck was a one way street, some family would be lucky to have him in their life.

When I first got Sully, he was awkward, terribly afraid of screwing up, overly sensitive and cowered at difficult times, he even pee'd on the floor out of fear lot of fear once. I learned quickly not to raise my voice at all those first few weeks and to not make any sudden moves or he would hit the floor, curl up into a ball and fear would overtake him. I do not know the details of his past, but I don't think anyone needs to tell me what it contained, to me it's clear.

But Sully has been, inspite of all of that, the MOST loving dog I have ever had the good fortune to meet, he's incredibly loving and quick to learn. To be honest, I've raised some wonderful dogs, anyone who's met them has loved their temperment. Sully blows the doors off of them. He would stop on a dime if someone reached out to touch him, just trying to soak the moment of human kindness and love in. He wakes up so happy, so so happy, he shakes his whole body with joy, not just wagging his tail. He seems like he's thrilled every morning just to get the chance to wake up and take another breath. He clearly understands the difference between 'having' to get up and 'getting' to get up.

So as I got to know Jenn and Jay, I realized that not only were they very lucky to bring Sully into their life, I am overjoyed to say that Sully has found a family he is lucky to join. And even before they left the first day I could tell they were in love with Sully. The person who did their homestudy commented that Sully's picture was already on the fridge. Every few days I've traded emails with Jenn and Jay or phone calls as they are anxious to prepare for him, to make their home the best possible place, to get to know what to expect and how to help him in this transition.

I realize now that it's taken about 6 weeks for the really Sully to come out of his shell, and he's an even more wonderful dog now than he already was. And so I'm choked up to see him go to a new home, I'm much much more choked up with the good fortune, the fate, that brought them together.

The pictures in this post are from very early on to  just yesterday. You can see in the first picture the day I got him that he's changed a lot since that time and he now 'shines' in pictures from this week. I was so happy to hear that the picture they saw online of the Santa hat was what caused them to fall in love with him. It's a good feeling to realize you put the link in place between two people/a pet and that you made a difference in the life of not only a dog, but a wonderful couple too.

Will I foster again? I'm sure I will, once spring comes, work evens out a bit and I'm more sure on my feet again. It's been one of the most rewarding experiences. Every. Single. Day. That's the difference, when I volunteered with organizations, you feel the reward when you experience the event, but with fostering a dog, you feel the reward every single day and too many times in a single day to count.

I look at the first and the last picture and it just does not look like the same dog. I will miss him, but he is just as lucky as they are to have found each other. Fate? Perhaps.