Yukon’s Family
Yay! I finally found my forever home
Hi, my name is Yukon, the dog that wandered into a church in Tehachapi with my brother, Zach. We were both taken in by a nice man who tried to find our owners. No one came forward to claim us. He tried to keep us, but we were way too much for him to handle. Instead, he decided to reach out to people, hoping that someone would take us both. One day, we took an hour long road trip with him, arriving at an animal hospital where we met Aunt Kelly and our future foster dad, Tom. Fortunately, Tom decided to take both of us into the rescue where we would be safe and not have to wander the streets anymore. The long drive to our new foster home was well worth it. On arrival, we were introduced to a few dogs and the fun began. We played with the dogs and all the toys too! As much fun as we had, we also realized that there was a schedule we had to get used to and things we had to learn about being in a house, like going potty outside. The other foster dogs taught us a lot about the house rules and if we just followed the rest of the pack, we would do fine.
My brother Zach got adopted pretty fast. To be honest, he picked up on training a lot more quickly and was much better at minding our foster dad. So it was interesting after Zach left, leaving me behind. I was nervous because I did not have my brother to help me through stressful situations. It was just plain harder for me to understand how to work through them. I went to several events and did not show very well because of my tendency to be scared. I would just be upset and unsure about being there. Finally, I decided that it was time for me to start acting my age, and I became bit more relaxed at the adoptions events. Then, one day my foster dad’s friend, Wendy, stopped by to meet me. She worked with me for only about 5 minutes. She told my foster dad she wanted to foster me for a while so she could work with me and see if she could help me be even better.
I loved being at Aunt Wendy’s because it was a little calmer environment, but she had all kinds of dogs that I loved playing with. She had me for about a month and I got to enjoy lots of walks, Friday fun days and plenty of playtime in the backyard of her home. Despite all that, she had to work a lot with me on my crate training. You see, I hated being in the crate. I even escaped from it a couple of times, so she got a really strong one for me. After that, I learned it was really okay and safe to be in one of those things. I was okay at my other foster home in the crate but it was a different experience. I was a better once I came back from Aunt Wendy’s and I went to a couple adoption events and really enjoyed meeting new people. I was finally getting the hang of it.
It was a warm Saturday when a special couple came to one of our adoption events. My foster dad had helped them to train their German Shepherd named Kica. They’d decided they wanted to add another family member so Kica would have someone to pal around the house with. Initially, Kica wanted nothing to do with me. She’d growl and bark, but once we went for a walk, she started to come around, giving me kisses on the walk. My foster dad decided that everything seemed fine but felt they should do our foster-to-adopt program, just to be sure. The next day he loaded everything up and we headed to my new foster-to-adopt home. We met at the dog park so Kica and I could play and get to know each other better while off-leash. We played and it was okay but Kica would play a little rough. After she got corrected, it was fine. We played for almost an hour before heading to my new home to do the foster paperwork. After the paperwork was completed and my foster dad left, I got to play with Kica and my new foster parents.
The next few weeks were great. Between playing with Kica and all the walks with my foster dad and mom, I was having so much fun that I didn’t realize how quickly the few weeks had gone by in my new home. I heard my foster mom talking to my old foster dad, Tom. I listened closely while she stated that Saturday would be great to finalize the adoption. I was strutting around Kica saying, “Neener, neener! You have to put up with me for life now!” Her response was to bark and want to play. Before long, Tom and Aunt Taryn came out to complete the adoption. I was really excited to see them. The paperwork was completed and I got to play a little with them and Kica. My old foster dad then gave me a big hug and told me to be a good boy. I was so thrilled that my brother Zach and I found him. He saved us and without his intervention, we would not have had a chance to lead such awesome lives with our awesome families. To top all that off, I even got a sister I get to play with every day!!