We have a new dog!

Her name is Bergie (after Boston Bruins star Patrice Bergeron ). She is a delightful, enormous (85 lbs) bundle of fur and love and mellow happiness.  And in keeping with the tradition carried by THAT DOG (may she rest in peace), Bergie is a complete genetic mystery. I’ve been goggling “dogs with spots” trying to piece together a guess (foxhound/Irish setter/lab maybe?) but I don’t think we’ll never know.

Here’s what we do know: She’s somewhere around 3 years old.  She was rescued in Tennessee along with another dog (possibly her daughter) after someone threw her out of a van and drove off. She ran after the van.

Doesn’t that make your stomach hurt? Horrible.

But an awesome organization – Angels Among Us Animal Rescue – found a foster home for her, treated her until she was well, and then sent her to a foster home in New England in the hope that she’d be adopted.  She’s been up here for about six months, with her picture on various websites & going to adoption events, but with no takers. I guess it’s a hard sell when you’re a big dog and not a puppy.  But that’s exactly what we were looking for, and I am SO thankful no one else fell in love with her before we did.

The process was so much easier than I expected. The folks at Angels Among Us were AMAZING…and fast!  I emailed to inquire about her Wednesday night after dinner. By Thursday they’d followed up with me and set up a call with her foster provider so I could ask questions about her, Friday they contacted our references (3 friends & our vet) and came out to look at our house to make sure we had some capacity to house/care for/exercise a dog. Saturday morning we drove down to meet her! What I was afraid would be a drawn out process was astonishingly easy. And their attitude was so helpful: if at any point we’d felt like she was not the dog for us, no problem – we could look at other dogs that might be a better fit. So there was no pressure at all to take her, which helped us make sure we were 100% sure.

Which, to be honest, was pretty easy.

Bergie is SUCH a sweetheart! She’s the easiest dog I’ve ever had. She is house trained, quick to obey if we let her know what want her to do, and her temperament is calm and even without the frantic ups & downs you get with a puppy. Of course, there are still transitional challenges (she had no idea how to walk on a leash and almost pulled my arm out of the socket on day #1…but a front-lead harness is helping her get the hang of it), and we’ll take her to obedience classes to make sure we’re all speaking the same language. We figure it will take about a month for her to figure out her new world and settle in.

If you’re thinking about getting a dog, consider meeting one of the awesome non-puppy dogs out there. They come in all shapes, sizes and energy levels. You can find a bunch to consider at Petfinder.com, and Angels Among Us has a great Facebook page where they post new dogs that come into their care.

An older dog is So. Much. Easier. I feel like I just got back the six months of my life I’d planned to spend training and picking up after a puppy…not to mention the rugs and furniture that aren’t chewed up.

It feels good to be part of her happily ever after. I’m into that :)