Coho's happy ending

While I love the dogs that I foster, some I am happier to send home than others.  I was happy to see the pups find homes that are up for the time consuming responsibility of training a puppy so they can have a happy future where they feel confident and loved.



Coho, soon after arriving at our home

For Coho, I am happy to see her go, not because she's a lot of work, but because she is so sweet tempered and gentle that the poor girl got lost in the crowd and I feel like she wasn't getting the attention she deserved here.

Coho came to us underweight, probably recently having weaned puppies, with a budding case of giardiasis, and pretty timid. This was a dog who had been failed by humans up to this point. I set about getting her healthy: she had vet visits, medications for the giardia, pumpkin to help soothe her intestines, and high quality puppy food to help her start putting on weight.  As she started to feel better some of her shyness disappeared and her personality started to blossom. I soon saw she was one of those dogs who desperately wanted to connect and bond with people. She wanted lap time and pets, and sweet sugary babytalk. 

Showing off her signature dance moves

I did my best to shower her with the affection and attention that she had been so lacking over the first 4 years of her life but there were 6 dogs in the house, all with their own set of needs and all WAY more demanding than little Coho and she always seemed to end up last in line.

So that is why even though my heart was sad to say goodbye, it was also happy because when Coho went home with her new family yesterday I knew she would finally get the attention and focus that she deserves. Her mom works from home and the family also has two large dogs, both who didn't phase Coho in the least when she visited.

Her new name will be "Willow" which I think is a beautiful name for this long-legged beauty who bent but did not break under the harshness of the first years of her life. She is now moving on to a happy future as a loved little princess in a wonderful family and that was my dream for her.

Here is Willow, getting ready to head home with her new mom and wearing her new car harness. At first she was pretty scared and bewildered but a delicious big homemade dog cookie helped her decide this may not be too bad after all. I wish I could have gotten a photo of her once she really dug into the cookie. She forgot to be scared for a bit and her ears went up and tail was getting wiggly.

She's not too sure what is happening

 

"Hmm...what's this delicious smelling thing?"

 

Getting a small nibble of the happiness that is coming her way with her new mom