Even though you know going in that a foster dog is going to be with you for a temporary amount of time, it can be hard not to get attached. Falling head over heels in love with a dog doesn’t take very long.
So when a man who wanted to adopt his foster dog was given the great news, he was so happy that he broke down in tears.
Two years ago, Mary was born in a shelter. She and her sweet siblings had to be bottle-fed. Then, at eight-weeks-old, they were ready to be adopted by loving families. So the rescue went through tons of applications and found them forever homes of their very own.
But a year and a half later, another shelter gave them a call and let them know that one of the dogs had come into their care. Their hearts sank as they wondered who had made their way back to a shelter.
“She came out completely head down. She had scars on her nose, flystrike on her ears. They had wrapped her tail because she had chewed it to the bone. She just looked defeated,” said Terri, founder of Foxy and the Hounds Rescue.
Animal shelters go through so many steps to find fantastic families for the dogs that come into their care. They review applications and have meet and greets and home checks. But people aren’t always as predictable as we like to believe.
“Just even thinking about it now, it’s hard to even imagine that I placed one of my rescues in a home where she was just neglected,” shared Terri.
But once Mary was reunited with the woman who cared for her and fed her from a bottle, she was a whole new dog. She brightened up and was so happy to see her. After that, Mary made her way to a foster home with Doug and his wife, Michelle.
Initially, Doug was determined not to get attached. He made it very clear that she was “just a foster” and that they were “not going to foster fail.” But history was not on his side. Their family already had two dogs that started out as fosters and ended up permanent members.
But Mary fit in perfectly with their family right away and it soon became obvious that she and Doug loved each other. Once Doug’s wife realized how much he wanted to adopt Mary, she decided to arrange an incredibly special Christmas surprise.
First, she let the shelter know the good news. Then, she wrapped-up a dog tag that had Mary’s name and their address engraved on it and placed it under their tree. When Doug opened his present and realized exactly what it meant, he burst into tears. He was so happy that Mary was going to be a permanent member of his family.
You can hear Mary’s whole story and see Doug’s extreme joy in the video below.
Featured Image: YouTube
Toledo, United States.
