Coalie

Last July, my 15-year-old German Shorthair Pointer, Sadie, passed away. As you can imagine, I was devastated.  My house was so quiet.  I went to the back door to let her in several times, of course she wasn’t there.

I have had a dog most of my life and knew that I would get another one, but when?  Then Labor Day weekend, when I was at my brother’s cabin, he asked me, “So when are you getting another dog?  Will you get a puppy?  Do you know what breed you want?”

After I returned home, I started doing searches on the internet.  I looked at various breeds and then thought, “My friends made a donation to the Animal Humane Society in memory of Sadie, that’s where I should be looking.”

I went to the AHS website and started looking at the pictures of the dogs in need of a good home.  I selected several from three AHS facilities and on Monday, September 13, I went to each location. At Woodbury there was a black lab/greyhound mix that they were calling Roxy.

I went up to her kennel and started talking to her, she barely acknowledged me.  I opened the door, went up next to her and knelt down and started petting her.  She looked up at me like “oh, another human.”  The young man working came by and asked if I had any questions.  Of course, I wanted to know everything they knew about her.  About all they knew was she was a stray, about a year and a half old and had already had a litter.

He asked me if I wanted to take her for a walk. We went outside and she stayed with me during the walk.  That was it; I knew she was the one. I wasn’t prepared to bring her home with me that night. But, I left saying I would be back on Thursday to get her.

Tuesday at work, Roxy was about all I could think of. I was afraid if I waited until Thursday someone else would adopt her. I left work and drove straight to AHS, within an hour I was on my way home with Roxy.  The first time I saw her, I thought her face was as black as a lump of coal. So, I renamed her Coalie.

That first night, I put a dog bed on the floor in my bedroom and Coalie laid down on it right away. In the middle of the night, I woke up with Coalie’s head on my back. She had decided she didn’t want to sleep on the floor. She’s had her spot on the bed ever since.

I really lucked out that Coalie was already house trained. At first, Coalie didn’t want to go out in the fenced-in backyard by herself. Of course, the first couple of days it was raining. So I grabbed my umbrella and went out with her. Within a week, she didn't care if I went out with her. She found out there are squirrels and bunnies in the backyard that she can chase.

In the beginning, she wanted to keep me in her sights. Now she is content to look out the window and watch the snow fall if I am doing something else. It has now been three months and we are still learning together.   There has not been a day go by that Coalie hasn’t done something that brings a smile to my face and warms my heart. I know that I adopted the right companion for me.  I thank the Animal Humane Society for being there for Coalie when she needed them.

Bonnie W.

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