Finding Tia

When she walked into PetSmart I was certain she was someone's prized and beloved pet; a stunning cream sable shepherd. But, a few minutes later, I was watching her being temperament tested in the training ring by one of our skilled Heartland volunteers and realized she was actually a potential new intake.

And then I heard her story. Tia's original owner wasn't much interested in her, so let her roam. She hung out at a gas station in a rural area, where she sometimes received attention from the attendants and patrons and was sometimes mistreated. A regular customer of the store finally tired of witnessing her struggles, put her in her car and left her contact information for Tia's owner. He never called. Tia was taken to the vet, vaccinated, spayed and micro-chipped. It is likely Tia's rescuer saved her life!

True to the nature of German Shepherds, Tia didn't make a good farm dog as she waited for a rescue to have room for her. She wanted to be indoors with her new pack of people, not outdoors in an enclosure. While I'm sure she was grateful to receive medical care, positive attention and know where her next meal was coming from, she also became a skilled escape artist, doing just about anything to get back to the front porch of her new house. She had a pond to swim in and barn cats to play with, but really just wanted a couch to curl up on. She'd arrived at PetSmart just in time. The forecast called for a -11 degree windchill that night and the woman who rescued her was desperate to get her placement in a foster home before nightfall.

I tapped on the plexi-glass of the training ring and gave the indication she was coming home with me. I don't think I was very subtle about it and might have offered to sell my soul for the chance to foster her! We brought in a litter-mate of my lab mix, Jazz, to see how she'd do -- and she did great. Then, we brought in a very brave kitty named Bugsy. When Tia licked Bugsy's nose, I knew she'd do fine here.

I love having her here; it's the perfect Christmas present. Getting her to leave the house the first few days was a battle of wills, but she's learned she gets to come right back in. She now rings the jingle bells on the doorknob to let me know when she needs a walk -- then DRAGS me back to the house when we're finished! She's claimed the dog bed in the living room as her own and gently piles up her favorite toys around it before she lays down. Today, she discovered the couch and, I suspect, it's going to be her new favorite perch!

She fits right in here, making it impossible not to fall desperately in love with her. Like my first foster puppies, letting her go is going to take a long time to recover from and my heart aches every time I allow myself to imagine it. But, Tia is proof-positive of both the need for foster homes and for individuals to spay/neuter their pets. She is not an unusual case. 25% of the animals in shelters across America are purebred. That means every year approximately 1.75 million dogs like Tia are abandoned. If they are lucky, someone like Tia's rescuer comes along and saves them. But they aren't all lucky and people like Tia's rescuer are, unfortunately, rare.

Fortunately, Tia doesn't know what might have happened to her. Ultimately, she will have a good life in a wonderful home. For now, she is simply content to be right where she is -- on her bed, surrounded by her favorite toys in a home with people who love her.