Happened to catch Candy wandering down one of the paths in our backyard recently and thought I should probably post a picture since I haven’t done it for so long!
I guess we have adjusted slightly to having only Candy in the house, now that Flower, Dottie, and Nigel are gone. I still dream regularly of Flower, Dottie, and Nigel. Usually, I don’t dream about all of them, but I recently dreamed that all four of them were with us in the living room, and we were on the floor playing with them. In my dreams, I always “know” that they really aren’t supposed to be there. This time, in the dream, I commented to John that they’d been there the entire afternoon. Obviously, if they had been there with us that long it had to be real and not a dream!
I miss them so much that I have thought about at least fostering another dog … or two … if not making the leap of adopting again. I regularly look at the dogs that come up on Adopt-A-Pet and Petfinder. I contacted National Mill Dog Rescue to see if they needed foster parents, but they weren’t looking for anyone in the Denver area. I filled out a long application at Evergreen Animal Protection League, because Deb at Clear Creek Animal Hospital used to work with them, but they didn’t contact me. Then, on Sunday afternoon, I saw a shih tzu named “Pete” on Adopt-A-Pet. I read that he was being cared for by Brighter Days Dog Rescue in Boulder. He was a cute grey shih tzu that someone had found wandering the streets of New Mexico. I showed John his picture and wistfully said he’d be adopted soon. John told me I could ask about him. I didn’t really know if I would although I wanted to. I waited until the next day and looked up the post about him again. The adoption fee was close to $700! I couldn’t believe it. I think we adopted Flower, Candy, and Nigel for $250 each. I will always fondly remember that Delores from BFF Rescue threw in Dottie for free because she was afraid no one would adopt her, since she was 5 years old.
How I wish Delores was still alive and still running her rescue! For now, we’ll just keep enjoying our time with the one dog we have left! And, I’ll probably try to contact Evergreen again and maybe even Brighter Days. I think Candy would like having another dog around too.
Dear Di, it feels so sad to read that Nigel passed away recently. I guess Candy would love having a new friend, afterall it must be lonely for her without her sisters and brother.
The adoption fee in the US is about the same as here in Belgium. At first sight, it is a lot of money, but for that money we get a fully vaccinated dog/puppy, microchipped and neutered/spayed (both mandatory). Is that the same for the US adoption organisations ?
Just a few days ago, I read an article about US animal shelters filling up because people started dumping the pet they adopted early in the covid pandemic. I know that the Covid pandemic was difficult for all of us, but to make these poor animals suffer, that really
makes me angry ! Hopefully one of these lovely pups will get lucky and end up ina loving forever home with you and your family !
Chris & ShihTzu Billy
Chris and Shih Tzu Billy, thank you so much for your response to the post. I guess I was shocked when I saw the adoption fee for Pete, partially because of the fee of $250 I paid for each of our shih tzus, although I know that was 10 years ago, and partially because it seems the usual fees are below $500. When I got the four shih tzus, they had been vaccinated, microchipped and neutered/spayed. The girls were purebred and had papers. I wonder if they might have decided to price Pete higher because he was also purebred? I have also heard that people are returning pets they adopted last year, and I think that is so sad. I do think I’ll keep looking, and maybe find an organization through which to foster in the meantime. I hope you and Billy have a wonderful weekend! Di