Skipper is a Treeing Walker Coon-hound who was a stray brought into our local A.C.C. this past January. Every time I went to the shelter to look for an adoptable dog Skipper was always the quiet one laying curled up on his cot. He would peek one of his eyes out between his two front legs and look at us so sad. We visited the shelter three times and every time he was still there laying on his cot, quiet, and just looking like he did not understand why he was there. See nobody wanted Skipper because he was not a cute little puppy bouncing around ready to lick you in the face. He was a senior dog that just wanted somewhere to lay around and be comfortable. So nobody was interested in him. I kept watching the web-site to see if his picture was gone in hopes he got adopted. Well, this never happened and Skipper's final days were numbered. The shelter posted Skippers Euthanizing date on their list. This is a list no one would want to be on. It was clear that he would die on April 25, 2008 if he was not adopted before then.
I could not let this happen to this docile beautiful hound dog that probably spent his younger days hunting with his companion and making that owner happy to have him. Where was that owner now? Does he miss Skipper? Did he look for Skipper? Or maybe he had no use for him any longer because he was a senior dog and he could no longer use him for hunting? Whatever the case was Skipper had trusted his previous owner to love him and take care of him forever. The previous owner did not do so and now Skipper has a date set to die. You see I could not let this happen. He was a perfect, sweet, loving, and gentle senior dog. Why should he die just because his previous owner was irresponsible?
I told my husband if Skipper does not find his forever home soon that we were going to be it. Well, the next evening I seen a posting on a local web-site that Skipper was going to be taken by a Rescue Group to a local Pets-Mart to be adopted out. I was so excited that maybe someone would see how loving and pleasing Skipper was and take him home. That day my family and I went by the Pets-Mart to make sure he was gone and found his forever home. We walked in and did not see him. We were so happy he was not there we just knew he had found his forever home. I wanted to make sure so I asked one of the rescue volunteers did Skipper get adopted today. She looked at me with a caring, but upsetting face at the same time and said "No, the shelter would not allow us to bring him today". I told her that our plans were to adopt him if he was still available when we got there. The volunteer was so happy that someone was interested in Skipper. She told us to go down to our local A.C.C. where he was and try to get him. She was so excited and pleased that we wanted him. She talked about how good of a dog he was and she hoped he found a home soon because his date was coming up fast.
We went to the shelter and adopted Skipper that same day and I can not say enough GOOD things about him. He is wonderful around our kids, other pets, and he seems to be so happy now. He does not just lay around all the time anymore. He gets excited and will try to play with us. Of course, it isn't for long because he gets tired easy due to his age, but he is still fun. He is well mannered and stays in our home. We had him potty trained in no time and he also learned to sit for his treats. Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks. He loves to ride in the car and go for rides. He also likes his daily walks. You see there is nothing wrong with Skipper. He is a wonderful animal that our family enjoys. It saddens me to know that he was almost euthanized and the only reason is because he was a senior dog and his exposure for adoption was limited.
The story for Skipper has a happy ending and our goal is to have as many happy endings to share as we can. If you would like to see Skipper click on the link below that says "Skipper's Picture".
I hope you enjoy his picture sleeping on our couch as much as he did "posing" for the picture.
Skipper has enjoyed every minute of it and so have we!
