We didn’t know that the job we set out to quote in spring of 2024 would change our lives in the best possible way. But, as is often the case, before things could get better they had to get worse.
He came home that night with downcast eyes and a heaviness about him that gave me pause. He would tell me when he was ready, and when he was ready, I would listen. He’s cautious, thoughtful and calculating. I am emotional, passionate, and spirited. Together we make a great team, but I knew if he was hesitating in sharing something with me it was most likely because he knew I would respond with instinct instead of thought, and he wanted to decide what the right thing to do was before I intervened. I respect that about him, and so I waited.
It was the next day over our second cup of coffee when he casually said “There’s a dog in there.”
“Not anymore there isn’t.” My reply was instant and he smiled because he already knew that would be my answer.
The job he had been out to quote was a full clean out of a home in deplorable, unlivable condition. Though he had been out to this home several times prior, working slowly with the owner to accept help and take action, he had never known a dog was being kept in those conditions until he was doing the final walk through to schedule the large scale work.
“Careful going in. That’s the dog room.” The owner told him when he went to push open a closed door. There was no sound from inside, and never having been scared of a dog before, he didn’t even hesitate to push through. The smell hit him before he even saw the little girl. A sweet young pittie mix curled up in a crate surrounded by her own feces and filth that came to the ankles of the men who had just stepped in. She had a gaunt face, sweet liquid eyes, and the biggest ears you have ever seen. Within moments she was begging him for attention and in seconds he knew two things. She needed saved, and she was a sweetheart.
While he worked on getting the pup signed over to us, I worked on finding her a loving home and it seemed as if the perfect one emerged in the nick of time. On paper they were amazing, but in the end they failed her perhaps worse than the first home did, and on Labor day weekend I received a text message that she had been dumped at the pound to be euthanized.
There was no conversation or hesitation this time. Saving her was the only option so while other people celebrated with cookouts, fireworks, and family, we were installing baby gates, contacting trainers for evaluation and the vet for medical appointments. We found her covered in red painful welts, barking in fear with a tennis ball in her mouth inside her concrete and chain link prison where she had been thrown away like week old bread. We knew the possibility existed that she had become dangerous so we were cautious and attentive to every detail until we had her evaluated by a professional.
A week later, after medication for her itchies, exercise and stimulation for her brain, snuggles for her heart and a safe environment for her overall well being we brought her to be evaluated and laughed when she hopped out of the car and immediately snuggled into the lap of the young woman assisting the trainer. Despite the obvious signs they still gave her a full work up and came to the not surprising result that she was very highly adoptable and the “off the record” comment was “I LOVE HER!”
With a positive evaluation from the trainer and her physical, emotional, and mental needs well covered we began contacting rescue groups to get her safely placed with one. We figured the process would take about thirty days, but after contacting a total of twenty three organizations we found only two who were willing to speak with us, and neither had space for her right then. Within two weeks one rescue stopped responding altogether and we were left with the very real reality that we were on our own.
Thirty days became sixty, then ninety in the blink of an eye. We had her spayed, brought her to training, discovered and resolved allergy itchies and some food intolerances. She played with her foster siblings, learned she had a voice, and snuggled every chance she got. In total we fostered her for one hundred and eighteen days, and when she went home, she went home forever.
Her new family adores her, spoils her, and cherishes her. She showed up with her manners and a desire to please, they showed up with gentle loving spirits and a committment to do whatever it took. Together they found exactly what the other needed, and little Lulu has officially won the lottery. From long walks to the local horse farms, jaunts by the ocean, warm sunny spots on the couch by the woodstove, and an empty lap always ready to snuggle into, Lulu will never again know what it feels like to be scared, alone, and forgotten.
It was one hundred and eighteen days past the day she was scheduled to die, that she found her forever ever after, and became the missing piece they didn’t know they were looking for until they met her. Lulu, now Lulu Missy Rooney isn’t just a dog, she’s their dog, a member of the family, who gets them out of bed in the mornings and a soft muzzle to kiss when the world feels too heavy.
We don’t deserve dogs. Their resilience, beauty, strength, and forgiving nature. Though I harbor anger in my soul at the homes who failed her, she does not even remember them, because once you find your place in the world, you stop thinking about everyone who didn’t care to make room for you in theirs.
It was a hundred and eighteen days of challenges. There was never a day where it was easy, but every day was worth it. In total, saving Lulu’s life cost us over $3,000 and 90% of the time we felt guilty she wasn’t getting as much as deserved, frustrated at the struggle of having five dogs in 950 square feet, and angry that this situation happened at all. But the day she walked into her new home, and we saw her new family light up with joy, we knew, right then, we would do it all over again, every single time.
The experience with Lulu brought us down a rabbit hole of learning about the homeless dog crisis, and looking for ways we could help combat it. Go Fetch was born completely from our experience with Little Lulu, and her fairy tale ending will forever encourage us to keep going. We know that her story will be just the first of so many “happily ever afters.”
We allocate 100% of business host membership fees to help homeless dogs and the network of support that currently exists for them. By joining the Go Fetch campaign your business can not only boost profits and connect with loyal customers, but they can help save lives while doing so.
To learn more about the Go Fetch campaign and join the cause just click the button below.
