CTCNC

Tails Of Success #3

Tail 3 -  “Sparky”

(click for a larger picture)  

Sparky, like many other dogs coming into Rescue, came it because he was not in the right home.  Actually, Rescue heard of him when he first showed up at a local shelter.  Before we could collect him, he was placed. The placement turned out to be the wrong kind of dog for the wrong home.  He wasn't bad, just full of energy and a single mom with a pair of young children didn't have time to deal with him and she realized it.  She called Rescue and then came over with him, and her children, to assure herself that we would do the right thing for him.  Once she saw him romping in the backyard with our trio, she was satisfied and agreed to leave him with us for placement.

Actually, the picture is a little deceiving, he is smaller than he appears and he has a very distinctive top knot of curly hair.  Dean Martin would have been jealous.  Some judicious grooming improved his looks.

Sparky showed in December, just as we had placed two other dogs and as we were expecting Christmas visitors but what is one more mouth to feed and dog to love?  We got the call from someone looking for a dog for their daughter for Christmas. I wasn't sure that was a good reason to adopt a dog, since these kind of presents sometimes get put aside and then ignored and come back to Rescue later.  

I had them come over and we talked, and talked, and talked.*  While the dad didn't seem really committed to a dog, the mother and the daughter were.  After we talked, Sparky came in.  He lived up to his name and made instant converts to Cairn Insanity.  By the time they left, everyone knew this was the right dog for their family.  A follow up call to the family right after Christmas confirmed this.

* A big part of the Rescue process is to evaluate the people asking about the dog. Our 1^st goal is to do what is right for the dog.  Then, secondarily, we don’t want the dog to come back into Rescue because we didn’t make a wise decision.  Evaluation of the dog and the proper pairing of dog and adopter is key to a good placement.