BOO

Boo literally “danced” his way into our hearts when he arrived at SOAR. If you have ever seen dogs at the circus that can “dance” on their hind legs, well, Boo could do that, too. He could dance the entire length of his kennel and back, hopping on his hind legs. He never fell over and he never seemed to tire of dancing!

However, dancing was only part of what made Boo a special dog. First, he was just a little guy, around 30 pounds. He was definitely the smallest SOAR dog at the time,

Boo, all dressed up for an adoption fair (early spring 2003)

except for the puppies. Second, he was a bundle of energy. He wiggled from his head to his toes when he saw you. Going on a walk was an excellent adventure and Boo didn’t try to hide his excitement and enthusiasm! “Yip! Yip!” Boo would say as you leashed him up for his walk, his whole body wiggling with energy. During the walk, Boo never slowed down and didn’t lose his enthusiasm. His little legs pranced along as you walked as fast as you could, with Boo leading out at the end of the leash. What an excellent adventure to walk Boo!

Boo came to SOAR because of circumstances outside his control. Sometimes changes in an animal owner’s life will spill over and impact the animal as well. That is what happened to Boo. Boo’s owner traveled with business and left Boo with a neighbor when she had to go on a business trip. Unfortunately, the neighbor was unable to live at home any longer and had to go into a nursing home. Boo’s owner could not find anyone else to keep Boo while she was on business trips, so she felt that she had to make the very difficult decision to give Boo up. Boo came to SOAR where he was put in an outdoor kennel with a concrete floor and no heat or cooling for the first time in his life. Although SOAR has very respectable housing for the animals, it certainly doesn’t compare to a warm and loving home and being able to cuddle up by the fire inside the house!

One of the SOAR volunteers, Jack, recognized right away that Boo was a very special dog and would make anyone a loving pet, especially someone who wanted a mature dog (Boo was 9 years old), rather than starting with a puppy. The community where Jack lived had a nightly e-mail newsletter where everyone shared news, as well as items for sale, and so forth. Since Boo was such a terrific little guy, Jack decided to describe Boo and his special features in the nightly community e-mail and see if anyone would adopt or foster him. At first Jack thought that he had failed, because he did not receive a single call about Boo. However, a lady had read Jack’s story in the newsletter and called SOAR directly inquiring about Boo. She came to SOAR and took one look at Boo and adopted him right away!

Recently, Jack ran into Boo and his new owner and they are so happy that they found Boo. He has danced his way into their hearts, just like he did with the volunteers at SOAR.

The Rest of the Story

I visited Boo and his new owners, Mike and Kathy, recently. His name is now Beau. They have had him for about 3 months and he has settled into their family very well. Beau shares the house with 2 cats, one who likes him and one who is terrified of him!

It is obvious that Kathy and Mike are very fond of Beau. They spoke about how smart he

Beau and Mike (summer 2003)

is. They have to spell words that they don’t want him to hear, such as “car”, “treat”, and "park” because he knows those words. Beau has settled into a routine with them and he now wants his walk first thing in the morning and right after dinner. Kathy said they can’t watch TV after dinner anymore because Beau wants his walk! The other thing that impressed Kathy and Mike about Beau was how well trained he was when they got him. He knows sit, stay, and come and he obeys quite well.

Both Kathy and Mike agree that Beau was quite the “find”. Kathy said that she felt very good about adopting Beau from SOAR because she could find out about the dog’s background and she felt that Beau had been well taken care of when she got him.

Kathy and Beau

I hope others reading this story will consider adopting a mature dog from SOAR, if your situation allows it. We need more success stories like Beau and more people like Kathy and Mike!