Homes for the Holidays

Pongo sharing Molly's bed.  She was less than thrilled
about it, but tolerated it pretty well.  That was pretty
much the opinion of all our dogs towards Pongo.

Xmas is a good time to adopt for some (time off from work, time to spend with a new dog), and a bad time for others (holiday travel), but this was a very good weekend for 4 or 5 of my fosters.

Mercedes loves the water,
or anything moving

Not surprisingly, there were a number of people interested in Pongo.  He went to a couple with a lot of dog experience, prior VGSR adopters, who wanted him bad enough to drive up here from Virginia Beach on Saturday afternoon.  They brought along their standard poodle, whose ears and tail looked like great play toys to Pongo.  The puppy pestered the poodle until they went outdoors to the dog yard and there it was all play and chase.  I know Pongo (now called Chance) will have a great home and his stay in foster care was very brief--he came in on Thursday, was neutered on Friday, out on Saturday.  I wish they all moved so fast.

Pongo was actually my second adoption on Saturday, the first was Mercedes, to a family who drove over from Richmond.  She will keep them busy but they seemed up for the challenge.  She is a smart, smart dog, too smart for a casual adopter. 

Clay got me up early on Sunday and hustled me out the door so I could make it to Front Royal by 11:00 a.m.  I took Thora, Ryland, Ginger, and Gypsy Jr.  They all rode well and were excited to be out.  Well, Ryland wasn't really excited, but there were people who had treats, so he was ok with it.  Thora was very anxious when we first arrived and didn't like being handed off to a stranger.  She was fine with him, but she wanted ME.  Apparently I'm her security blanket.  But she settled down after a bit so I could at least walk away. 

I'm happiest for Ryland.
He has been waiting nearly a year.

A couple adopted both Ginger and Ryland.  I was thrilled.  I would have adopted Ginger 3 or 4 times today, but there was only one of her to go around.  The adopters are dog people; their car is outfitted for their dogs (same as Pongo's adopters).  They are good friends of another volunteer so they came with excellent references.  I knew they wanted Ginger, but when they decided to take Ryland too, I really loved them.  Ry apparently took a liking to the man and vice versa.  That's something special for Ryland because he doesn't usually express much interest in people unless there is food involved.  Ginger is a lovely girl, everyone liked her and several people wanted her, but anyone who appreciates Ryland for who and what he is, is someone special.

Ginger, awesome dog

Another piece of good news is that there are two prospective homes interested in Thora!  One has small dogs and the other has a cat.  I'm going to make a point of introducing Thora to both this next week and see how it goes.


The puppies are still doing well, but Laila isn't putting on weight the way Woody is.  But they both seem happy and healthy, playful, and noisy.  I'm going to give them a couple more weeks before looking for homes.  Applicants should submit evidence of three miracles performed.


The only bad thing about these placements is that I disappointed a number of people who were interested in the dogs who got adopted this weekend.  Contrary to what some might think, I don't enjoy that.  There were a number of people interested in Pongo, Mercedes, and Ginger who could have provided good homes.  All I can say is that although I disappointed a number of people, I don't think I disappointed any of the dogs.