Aiden’s Family

The Road to My Perfect Forever Home

Hi, I am Aiden, the dog that was at the Devore shelter and labeled as “rescue only” because I was attacked by another dog while I was a stray and had deep cuts around my eye. On the day I was supposed to be put to sleep, a really nice woman convinced the shelter to let her take me and she saved my life! When I walked out of the doors of the shelter, it was such a huge relief and I felt like I was free and had the rest of my life ahead of me. I arrived at my new foster home and there were three other dogs there, Harlan, Ginger and Lola. As I got settled in the first week, I noticed Harlan liked to carry around his bowl in his mouth, Lola liked to bark at everything that moved and Ginger was great at teaching me how to play like a dog. I’m pretty laid back so I liked to watch how the other dogs behaved in the house so I could learn and follow their lead. I got to play with lots of toys and of course playing with my foster brother and sisters. Life was good! The one thing that my foster mom was really concerned about was the bite wound near my eye because it was badly infected. She would treat it every day and make sure it wasn’t getting worse and I also had to be on several rounds of antibiotics to treat the infection. Eventually, after a couple months, it started healing up pretty well. It was so great to be in a home where I felt so cared for and loved. My foster parents even let me sleep on the bed with them and the other dogs. Sometimes all four of us dogs would be on the bed with them but they didn’t mind because they loved us all and just wanted us to be comfortable.

I went on a lot of walks with my foster mom and dad and sometimes my foster mom would take us to the park and let us off leash so we could run around and work off some of our energy. I felt like I was in heaven in my foster home but I knew they wanted to try to find me a forever home. I started going to adoption events and I was kind of nervous because I wanted to make sure people knew what a good dog I am. It is almost like being on stage the first day of a Broadway show, you have to be on your toes and that was a little hard for me because of my past. But after going to a few events, I became a pro at them and was getting really comfortable with meeting people. All the volunteers really liked me too because every time I arrived at an event, they all came over to say hi and were so happy to see me! Because I was so well behaved, well mannered and didn’t look like a typical Shepherd, I got a lot of attention from people. My foster mom and I went on some meet and greets with potential families but they were just not a good fit for me. Finally, we had a meet and greet with a really nice couple at the park and they fell in love with me. My foster mom really liked them and I did too, we were pretty sure they would be a great match for me. A home inspection was done and just few a things needed to be taken care of which they did right away. The big day, my adoption day, was nearing and I started feeling sad for my foster mom because we were very connected to each other and I loved her so much. She saved my life, took care of me and got me healthy, and loved me like one of her own. It was going to be hard for both of us but I knew I needed to be very strong for her and show her because of her, I became a confident, well balanced boy and will do great in my new home. My big day finally came and I walked into my new home like I have lived there all my life. I met the turtles and they were fun because they were very active and liked to play so I knew I had a couple of new buds for me. We went inside to complete the adoption paperwork and I thought, wow, I’ve come a long way and to finally find a forever family that was perfect for me is a dream come true. I will always be so grateful to my foster mom and German Shepherd Safe Haven for finding me this amazing home.