In a twist of fate, Zander came back into our lives. He was blessed to be adopted by a very loving family, but when their family circumstances changed, they made the very selfless decision to surrender him. This time when he was back in our care, we decided we did not want to say goodbye and decided to officially adopt him. We absolutely fell in love with him when we first fostered him, but it was just a few weeks after Jackie's passing and it felt too soon to adopt again. A few months later, when our hearts were more healed, and when he came back into our lives again, we knew it was meant to be that he would be ours forever. After a lot of debate, we chose to change his name if he did not seem too confused. After about a day, he was already responding to "Gino", our little bambino. After taking some time to get Gino reacclimated to our home, our goal is that he will help us in this new chapter of our lives, helping more four legged fosters get to their forever homes. |
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Zander goes to his new home today, and while we are so excited for the amazing life he will have, we are finding this goodbye extra tearful. He has been such a lovely joy to have in our home and we will miss him immensely.
Thankful that his new momma and I were able to exchange contact info and we'll be able to get some updates on Zander from time to time. We love you Zander and we pray you have a long, happy life. This is our last weekend with Zander before he goes to his new home, and we are also watching former foster, Cooper. I'll let the videos speak for themselves, but the boys had a LOT of fun together!!! At the shelter, Zander showed fear when introduced to a dog. When we brought him to our home, it took some time to get used to the neighbors' dogs through the fence. Before his neuter surgery, we tried several buddy walks with family dogs, and during our last outing, Zander looked like he even wanted to initiate some play. So we decided to reintroduce him to the same dogs, see if he still looked excited to meet them, and then try some off leash play. Even if his new family does not have another dog, we'd love for him to at least be comfortable enough for a doggy friend in the future. First up was senior basset hound, Milli. The video shows how excited Zander was to see her again. Milli could care less. We decided to try some off leash play. Milli wasn't really interested in his energetic play and kept hiding under the picnic table. Zander quickly caught her drift and left her alone. Next we reintroduced him to Ollie, a beagle mix that is about his size and age. Again, Zander looked so happy to see him. Off leash in the backyard, Zander at first came on a bit too strong and fast for Ollie. Ollie looked a little stressed (he was showing some teeth and growling), so we separated the pups and let them calm down. After a few minutes, they were back to running, no issues. They really wore each other out and then calmly trotted around the yard together. So proud of Zander! We are so excited to see that with slow introductions over time, puppy friends can be in his future! He looked so happy.
Found out Zander received a few applications, and although no formal adoption has been made, I know our time together will most likely be coming to an end soon. I am soaking in every last snuggle. We had to put our dog down about two months ago, and Zander's sweet demeanor and snuggles have been so good for my aching heart. I wish we were ready to adopt again, because Zander is just a gem. So sweet, quiet, snuggly, and calm- he has come such a long way and is such a happy, confident pup now. We are so sad to know he will leave soon but we keep saying, "whatever family gets to adopt him is hitting the jackpot!".
I hope his new family keeps in touch with us... Zander will always hold a special place in our heart. Last week we noticed Zander started what we call "corn bites", it's like he does a little nibble to get our attention. My husband and I were hugging yesterday, and I felt a little nibble on my pant legs. There is zero aggression behind it, but I think it's his way of saying "hey, look at me!".
Just wanted to note that this is something we are working on and if kids are in your home, they would just need to know he isn't "biting", it's just his way of getting attention and kids would need to be taught that this behavior can easily be redirected by offering him a toy or distraction. Because Zander has been doing so great not having accidents in the house, and he has to be locked up in his crate M-F for about 8 hours, we wanted to try to give him the option to sleep in a dog bed next to our bed. We tried two separate nights. The first night, he kept trying to jump into bed with us. I have no doubt he would have just snuggled up all night, but not knowing if this is a behavior his new family would like, we are trying to keep this boundary set. He just didn't seem as comfortable (kept getting up and walking around). We decided to try one more night, and he did settle in and sleep for a few hours at a time, but again, he would just get up and walk around... like he just wasn't settling in for a solid, all night rest.
Last night, we put him back in his crate for the night, and he slept nice and calm. He seemed more comfortable being in his safe space. I'm not sure what he will prefer in his new home, but the good news is he truly does not mind being in his crate. This has been a huge struggle for some of our former fosters, so this is a huge plus for his future family that he is crate trained. We wanted to keep Zander's mind engaged on another very blustery winter day, so in lieu of one of his daily walks, we decided to see how he would do at a pet store. Would this once timid pup revert to his scared ways, or would he be confident? We decided our first stop would be Pet People in Grosse Pointe. It is a small shop, the employees are always so friendly, and we rarely see other dogs there. He happily wagged his tail as each new person greeted him. He even pulled a little to get to a new person he saw, which showed us he felt very comfortable. He really enjoyed all of the smells. These videos show how confident he was and how much he enjoyed this little outing. For being such a good boy, we got him this rawhide alternative stick that he kept gravitating towards. He was so happy he walked out of the store with it. Because he did so well, we tried him at a local Pet Supplies Plus that might be a little busier. Didn't get any pics in the store, but again, he was so excited, butt wiggling with every person he met. He got a stuffed chicken toy that he played with for a bit on the way home before passing out from all of the excitement.
I think he had fun at pet stores. :) |
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