When I bought my house 4+ years ago, the first person to welcome me to the neighborhood was a man walking his dog. Calvin and his wife, Theresa, live up the street and around the corner. Calvin and his akita, Cincie (sp?) were well known all around. He and that dog were inseparable.
Sadly, Cincie had to be PTS Sept 29, 05. She was one day shy of her birthday; she would have been 13 on the 30th. She had cancer. Calvin did so much for her that last 6 weeks (and spent a small fortune on vet fees, as you can well imagine). He was heartbroken, and he came and sat here talking with my Dad and crying for over 2 hours after the final vet visit.
Last March, Calvin told me he thinks they are ready for another dog. And of course, he wants an Akita. Neither Calvin nor Theresa uses the computer, so Calvin came over once and I searched Akita rescues for him. There were 3 or 4 he was interested in, and that info was printed out. One thing and another and things never quite worked out.
I spoke with Theresa once, she said he was looking for "another Cincie," and she just kept telling him that he had to look at each dog for itself, not for a Cincie replacement. Another time, Calvin told me the dog had to be 9 months or younger. He didn't mind training, but he didn't want to deal with "untraining" as well for all the bad things the dog may have learned.
Last Sunday, there was an Akita posted on our craigslist. (Yeah, I was constantly looking, even if he didn't know it!) Something about the photo and the write up struck a cord for me, so I wrote to the person, explaining I was writing for my friends, explained their situation. The person wrote back to me SO EXCITED. This dog is 18 months old female, her owner had taken ill and won't be able to keep her. They have been searching for a good home for the dog, and know enough to realize a prior Akita owner would be best. If they couldn't find someone, they knew that due to all the procedures ahead, they would have to take the dog to a shelter or rescue by June 15th.
So I printed that out, and the photo and took it up. Over the next 3 days, the woman bombarded me with information about the dog and asked if my friends were interested. Each day, I'd compile all her messages, print them, and walk them up to Calvin's home. And I kept at him to at least meet the dog. I told him no one can say if this is THE dog except him, but he had to meet her. And I reminded him that he KNOWS how I feel about rescue! :rolleyes: :D
This evening Calvin stopped by on his way home from work, just after 5 PM. HE GOT THE DOG! He is on cloud 9! He went up yesterday, got out of work early, and spent FIVE HOURS with the owner, her son, and the dog. Calvin said it was too weird, the dog looks quite a lot like Cincie. Many of the Akitas he has looked at had lots and lots of white, or the tail didn't curl it was straight, not what he wanted. The woman and her son were thrilled with the way the dog took to Calvin. Every time they walk the dog, it is like a cartoon, with the dog charging along the sidewalk and the person flying along behind. Calvin took the leash (after about 2 hours making friends with the dog), got down to her eye level and talked to her. Then they set off walking down the sidewalk. She stayed in the heal position. If she got ahead of him, he just stopped and slapped his thigh; she got back in place! They were amazed and so happy and they GAVE him the dog, a pure bred, AKC, show lines, for free! (Calvin will have her spayed, he doesn't want to deal with puppies and finding good owners and all.) Calvin and Theresa will go to pick her up tomorrow so they have 3 days to get her settled before they both leave for work and she is in the new home situation alone.
He was crying again tonight, but this was a happy cry. Made our night, for Dad and me. This dog's birth date? Sept 30, 05. Same birth day as Cincie, and one day after Cincie passed.
Sorry so long; I am just so happy that dog has found a great owner. She could have ended up . . . anywhere.
