Mum and George decided about 12 years ago they were ready for a dog in their lives. We had a long chat about what they needed and the search began. I was working with a number of shelters and met a number of dogs. Many met the criteria they had determined (they weren't fussy: a "decent" sized dog, not a puppy) but the click just wasn't there. We looked all through the fall of 1999 into the winter. There was no rush - there was no panic but as we considered dogs more criteria became clear (a laid back dog was important, not too dak in colour, smart but not over the top smart). One night I was working at the shelter, alone, when there was a knock on the door - I opened up and was begged to take a 6 week old jrt puppy that was "too much" for the family. I explained we were full and we were closed - gave the dude some numbers for the next day and started to lock up. The guy was being a bit pushy so I asked him where the puppy was. She was in his car. Against my better judgement I asked to see her. My only defense is the guy was being quite odd .. and I couldn't believe anybody would give up a 6 week old puppy. He pulled her out so I opened up the shelter, had him fill in the surrender form, and took her home to foster.
It took me about 2 days to even think of her for Mum, after all they didn't want a puppy, and I didn't think a jrt was the best fit for our multispecies extended family, but this little girl was the most laid back jrt I'd ever met (and in rescue land we see a fair few). Mum and George asked to meet the puppy. I warned them meeting a puppy when you were looking for a dog was a dangerous thing. They wanted to go ahead. Of course the perfect puppy sold herself in a heartbeat. The rest, as they say, is history.
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