Of puppies, house visits and everything good

I went for a house visit to confirm the adoption of one of our puppies last Sunday.

Going for that house visit reminded of all everything I love about shelter work and why we just keep on striving.

In the world of animal rescue, it's easy to become cynical about the human race.

But every so often, you meet a wonderful family to help you put things in perspective.

You learn that darkness easily masks the light, that misdeeds tend to overwrite good ones and that the existence of cruel people does not sap the world of kind souls.

The little puppy that we went to visit was our beautiful Doreen, now known as Sparkles.

Meet Sparkles!

Sparkles is a happy cheerful name that this shy quiet one is slowly growing into.

She's been with her new family for just one week. But she is steadily finding her place at home.

Sparkles gets along well with the canine boss at home, a tiny ten year old bundle of energy otherwise known as McGruff. McGruff loves attention and never tires of playing fetch, while Sparkles is content being in the background, just doing her thing.

It took Sparkles all of one week to find her own cosy corner in the living room where she hoards her bones and settles down for a good long chew. She also likes going to her silver tub by the dining table and plopping down comfortably on the soft cushion within.

Her corner

When she is thirsty, she scampers easily to her drinking bowl by the front door. And when her folks grab the leash, she prances around in excitement at the knowledge of an impending walk.

I read somewhere about how every puppy ought to have a boy to love. Sparkles, as it turns out, has two very handsome, very irresistible little boys at home to call her own. We're told that Sparkles has developed a little hobby of showering the boys with her own doggie kisses.

Muackz.

Russ, Elizabeth and their sons, Matt and Ian are a noisy, adorable and very charming family with a whole lot of love to give. We can't begin to say how thankful we are that Sparkles gets a share in all of this.

It was so difficult getting a family shot! And our Sparkles was just a little confused haha.

Russ told me the story of how he adopted his previous dog in a fit of anger when he found the dog locked up in a cupboard at a friend's party. Elizabeth declared emphatically that she loved black dogs over brown ones. 

In those moments, I felt like we spoke the same curious language of canine love. And I knew at once that Sparkles was safe. 

Island puppy. Shelter puppy. After a long journey, Sparkles is home at last. 

I don't often go for house visits because manpower is needed back at the shelter and the best representatives to go visit the adopted poochies are Wee and Florence.

But I've realized that it is necessary to hop onto the house visit bandwagon once every so often, especially when the going gets tough and sickness and death cause you to lose a little faith. These house visits and their element of happily ever after help warm you up like a soft cosy blanket on a cold winter's day.

We were swept away by McGruff and these two wonderful boys

With two puppies safe and loved in their new homes, we have three more left waiting for the right family to come by. With each week that passes, their chances of adoption decreases exponentially. 

Dabao, Daffy and Dazzle have been left behind, not because they are worse for wear. They simply had the misfortune of missing the winning ticket in the lottery of adoption. 

Dabao's is beginning to respond to his name and trots towards you curiously when you call on him.

Dabao, our big treasure

Daffy's ears that once stood sideways like a bat are now floppy like a lab retriever pup.

The runt of the litter. Daffy's grown into her own

Dazzle is constantly prancing around and is in desperate need of a human friend to love and hold.

She dazzles in human attention

Will someone come for them? Or are these puppies destined to remain in the shelter for the rest of their young lives?

We believe that it is never too late for happily ever after. 

Just like Georgia and Sparkles, we believe that Dabao, Daffy and Dazzle will have their day as well. We just hope that the faceless families in their distant future won't take too long to find their way to them. 

Adopt, don't buy. If you are interested in adopting the puppies, please drop us an email at farmwaylove@gmail.com. If you know of anyone interested in adopting puppies, we urge you to help us spread the word!