Vail’s Family
Finally, a home that is home sweet home!
Hi, remember me, Vail…you know, the strong willed, dominant, sable Shepherd! Let’s see, where do I begin? Well, I was picked up as a stray and taken to the Baldwin Park animal shelter. A nice man walked around the corner, saw me and stopped to greet me. He was really nice and said he would be right back. I guess he went to get some information on me. He soon came back and started petting me and playing with me. We spent awhile getting to know each other and then before he left, he told me that he was going to come back in a few days to get me. I wondered why he couldn’t take me that day but I found out it was because I had to have my neuter surgery before I could leave the shelter. After the surgery was over, that nice man was there to pick me up. I knew once he loaded me up into the crate in the car, I was safe and didn’t have to worry about ever being in a shelter again. I slept all the way to my new foster home.
When I got there, oh my gosh, talk about fun! There were so many dogs there that I wanted to play with! But I knew I had to recover from my surgery before I could play so for the next week or so, I hung out in my crate and watched my foster brothers and sisters play. When I was all healed up, I was so happy to be able to join in on the fun and play with everyone! My foster dad also worked on training me to be a good, well-behaved dog. He even took me to one of Aunt Wendy’s training classes. Boy, I thought my foster dad was tough but he was easy compared to her. She made me mind and I had to concentrate and focus on the training for a full hour! That’s a long time for a pup like me! But with her training and my foster dad’s continual training at home, I was on my way to being an all around good boy.
One day, my foster dad took me to a meet & greet at the park. We met a nice lady there and I really liked here. She was pretty firm with me when she walked me so I had a feeling I would not be able to get away with anything on her watch! But that’s just the kind of guidance I need as I grow up. She spent some time with me and I started hoping that she could be my new mom. My foster dad suggested that she try the foster to adopt program with me to make sure we would be a good fit for each other so we decided that I would go into her home in a week or so. In the meantime, she would come over sometimes to walk me and get to know me more which I thought was really cool because that meant she likes and really cares about me. Finally, the day came for me to go into her home. As we headed over there, I was kinda nervous but it was all good because I knew she would be good to me. Once the foster to adopt paperwork was filled out and my old foster dad left, it was just me and my new foster mom. Well, to be honest, I did test the boundaries but she was very firm with me. But one day, I think I pushed it too far so she scheduled a time that evening for my old foster dad to come back to help correct my behavior. He went over some things with my foster mom so she knew exactly what to do when I try to act up. She put the new training ideas into practice and she was even firmer with me than before so that I knew she meant business. I really liked my new mom and my new home and I realized that I needed to start minding her if it was going to work out for us. She really wanted it to work out for us too because I knew she how much she loves me so she continued to be consistent with the training.
The next week was a lot of fun. I met many of the neighbors and their dogs and everyone thought I was a pretty awesome dog! I also got to go for a lot of walks, play ball in the yard, hang out and watch my foster mom make ceramic bowls and plates and oh yeah, play more ball! One of our neighbors even came by one day to take me for a run.
My foster dad came to visit me again and I was kind of nervous to see him because I wasn’t sure why he was back. I was just a little worried that I wasn’t going to be able to stay with my foster mom. But he told me that he was there to finalize my adoption and boy was I relieved! And excited! I jumped all over him because I was so happy and thankful he saved me and found me this awesome home. My new mom and my old foster dad went into the house to do the paperwork while I laid in front of the door, looking at the cool view and thinking that just a few months ago, I was in the shelter, not knowing whether I had a future or not. How things have changed for the better for me! I am one lucky boy to have such a wonderful mom who loves me as much as I love her! We are the perfect pair!