Just this weekend I got the official word to keep an eye out at work for a dog for my parents. Last month their dog Rose died, leaving Alice an only child.
Rose came into the family in May of 1998 when my mom, my sister and I went for a trip to the mall in Salem. At that time WHS was known as HSWV (Humane Society of the Willamette Valley) and had a satellite adoption center at the mall. We just went in to ooh and aah over the cute critters and somehow ended up taking home a 3 month old pitbull puppy named Rose.
From the beginning Rose was a great puppy (which of course I credit to her previous foster home) and grew up into an amazing dog. She seemed to train herself and didn’t have most of the typical puppy challenges.
At the age of 12, Rose passed away, succumbing to a variety of health problems that eventually overwhelmed her poor old body. Rose is now buried in her front yard looking out at the lake where she loved to hang out watching the ducks paddle by.
RIP Rosiekins
Since my parents have pretty much always had a two dog household, I figured they’d be ready before too long to welcome another dog into their home.
When chatting with my mom this weekend she asked me to keep an eye out for a male boxer. It had been a while since my dad had a boy dog and he loves boxers. We do tend to get boxers in our shelter every so often so I figured one would come in eventually and I could let the parents know.
I didn’t expect to find a boxer quite so soon, but Samson a handsome 1 1/2 year old hadn’t been adopted yet. I knew he had been up for adoption but somehow missed the fact that he was still available. By the time I noticed this on Sunday, he had a hold on him for another family though. Yesterday the hold was removed and Samson was available again.
I chatted with my dad this afternoon and told him about Samson and suggested that he check out our website to see his picture and profile. As he scrolled through our adoptable dogs Bella, a 3 month old pitbull, caught his eye.
My mom happened to be in Salem today, so my dad called her and asked her to stop by to meet Samson and Bella. She pretty much fell in love when she met Bella. I did introduce her to Samson, but Bella had already made a huge impression and we took her out to visit for a while.
While mom was on the phone telling dad about how cute Bella was, I got out my camera and caught this video of her. I skimped on the editing and posted it right away so dad could see Bella in action instead of just hearing how cute she was.
The very idea of uploading a video for my dad to watch online without someone to help him navigate a computer, let alone the internet, would have been inconceivable in the recent past. But my oh my how times change. With minimal coaching over the phone he was able to follow a link I emailed to him and view this video. So proud :)
And it worked! One look at this girl and my dad was hooked. We loaded Bella up in a crate for the drive back to the coast and as of the last report I received, Bella was doing very well, she and Alice were doing well together, and mom and dad sounded completely smitten.
While she doesn’t appear to be a boy boxer, I think she’s just what they were looking for! Now they’re debating on a name. They’re not sure if Bella is going to stick and are starting the brainstorming.
So yet again, the unsuspecting Fitzpatrick family ended up with a 3 month old girl pitbull from WHS… and couldn’t be happier!