Serena, the Perfect Fit

I think I've ranted about this before, people who have a checklist of "must haves" in the dog they are willing to adopt: house trained, crate trained, kid-friendly, cat-friendly, etc. Ok, I understand that people may have certain requirements, but you've got to be realistic too. You are adopting a whole dog, a complex creature who may have some established characteristics, but many others will be adopted and adapted as necessary to get through life in a new home. Behaviors may be triggered by things we don't know, can't sense, or just don't understand. My point, if I still have one and if anyone is still reading, is that you shouldn't be too rigid and narrow in your approach to adopting a dog.

You particularly shouldn't be so hung up on physical characteristics that you fail to look at the dog's personality. The perfect fit may not be the dog of your dreams. The dog you think you want may be all wrong for you. And the dog you didn't know you wanted may come along and sit down beside you.

Before Maya came along I wasn't planning to adopt anything but older dogs, thinking they'd be easier to deal with along with a constantly changing array of fosters. Maya certainly wasn't older and you could never call her "easy." She wasn't what I was looking for or planning to adopt. She's a pretty girl, sure, but she wouldn't have checked off many boxes on most adopters' checklists. But ultimately, none of that mattered. She came into my life, changed my thinking, changed my plans, and changed my life.

After Gigi died, I knew we'd have another Great Dane someday. Gigi was basic black, sleek, and beautiful; the girl could wear anything. But I'm partial to the blue merles and the harlequins. They may be harder to accessorize, but they are gorgeous, striking, and are sure to turn heads wherever you go. I always figured our next Dane would be one of those color patterns, probably the blue merle.

But then Serena showed up. She arrived in the dark of night, tail tucked and scared to death. She's fawn colored, and although she certainly is pretty, she's not the blue merle of my dreams. But, she began to blossom. Her trust in us grew, slowly at first, but it wasn't long before we were more a source of security than fear. Her tail came out. She learned to play. She developed a lean, a bounce, and a joyful romp. She's still got some behavioral issues that would make her less than perfect for many homes, but she's fit in really well around here.

The bottom line is that the number of people I'd consider adopting her to is approaching zero, so she's staying here in our merry band of misfits. Now who can I list as a reference on the adoption application?