Third Time's a Charm

Lizzy hasn't received a ton of applications, but she has had two meetings with families.  Unfortunately they weren't the right match for her, but we are very proud of how well she showed for both of these families.

The first was a young family from Rhode Island.  Linda and William drove up with their three kids, ages 4, 5 and 7, to meet Lizzy.  She was fantastic.  She played nicely with the children in the back yard, didn't jump on them, and even let the little girl, who was 5, warm up to Lizzy on her own terms.  I think the little girl was intimidated by Lizzy's size at first but as she noticed Lizzy behave and play gently, she became more comfortable, offering Lizzy lots of pets.

For her part, Lizzy didn't act like an older dog at all.  She ran around the yard, but not in a crazy way, and let the kids pet, poke and prod her.  She leaned in for Linda and William to snuggle on her and just showed wonderful behavior all the way around.  Although Linda was smitten with Lizzy and really wanted to adopt her, William had his heart set on a puppy and so it wasn't the right family for our girl.

The following week I arranged for Lizzy to meet Donna and Rob, and their 13 year old Dachshund/Chihuahua mix, Billie.  Billie doesn't particularly like female dogs, but she will tolerate well-behaved ones, so Donna and I thought it was worth a meeting.  Donna and Rob used to volunteer with a rescue group, have a horse and their application impressed me because Donna was specific about the type of positive reinforcement training they use.

When they arrive, Lizzy was very excited to see they brought her a friend to play with.  Billie was less enthusiastic, but gave Lizzy some serious signals to not push her luck.  And Lizzy listened, about 75% of the time.  Despite this, Donna and Rob spent about 45 minutes in the yard with Lizzy, observing her behavior, walking her on a leash, and even getting her to sit and come on command (two things we had only just begun working on with Lizzy).  At times, Lizzy got a burst of energy and started running, doing laps around the pool, getting distracted by sights and smells, and not listening or responding when called.  It was great to see her so excited and playful, even if it meant Billie giving her the business from time to time.  I had know idea where this energy came from, especially since I'd taken her for a long walk late in the day in anticipation of the meeting.

Unfortunately, however, this high display of energy is what made Donna & Rob decide she wasn't the right dog for their lifestyle. They don't have a fenced yard and abut conservation land, so the fear that as a sight-hound she would go running was a definite concern for all of us.  But Donna was right in saying Lizzy is a good dog, she just has to find the right family.

So over the weekend I connected with Jim who recently put down one of his two dogs.  His application was also impressive, especially when he said he wanted to adopt a rescue dog because "they love you more because they know you gave them a second chance."  Jim is sure his other dog, Wilma, is lonely and feels dogs are better in twos, so we have a meeting with Jim, Wilma and Jim's sister this weekend.  Jim's sister is a sweetheart who comes over during the day to let the dogs out while he's at work.  We really like that he has a chance to give the dogs some socialization (and a chance to get outside) in the middle of the day instead of being stuck inside. 

Hopefully this meeting will go well and Lizzy will find her forever home.  Dave and I keep commenting that Lizzy seems to be getting younger since we've had her, so if the trend continues, she'll be acting like a puppy by the time Jim sees her.  So much for her being the old lady of our ragtag group of wayward dogs.