Wagging Tales and Happy Endings

Successful Adoption Stories

W.A.G. alumnus Chester, on the left, finds common ground with his litter mate, Maddie, after they were reunited by foster parents, Judy and Dick Stirton of Sequim.

Siblings Are Reunited

Chester, an Airedale mix, came to W.A.G. when his humans realized after about eight months that he needed a more active family to match his personality. His picture and biography were posted on Petfinder.com. Judy and Dick Stirton, his W.A.G. foster parents, with the help of grooming and a great photo by Linda Benson, said it took only a couple of days before a family in Everett, WA saw it. Judy picks up the the story from here:

Chester has found his sister and his forever home! They are the greatest folks and the dogs just seem to click. Dick and I took Chester over to their house in Everett WA March 3, 2007. It was quite a trip, but very worthwhile.
 
The family's daughter bought their female from a pet store here in Port Angeles last July, and there were only two pups left, a male and a female. They looked just alike, and she chose the female. Months later the folks had wished they had taken both... a friend for their pup, Maddie.
 
For the last few months Maddie's "mom" has been checking  Petfinders.com to see if there was a dog that would be a good buddy for Maddie. They couldn't believe it when Chester came up and he looked just like her.  The area, the date and the looks were just too good to be true. This was the pup they hadn't adopted!
 
How is that for warm and fuzzy?! These folks are great. Their veterinarian says so [all W.A.G. adoptions must get a reference from a vet], and we have met them. They ARE great! I just hope he makes friends with their kitties!

FRANKIE AND MONTY

Frankie and Monty are two very lucky dogs. Monty, 7, was tied with a ten foot chain to a dog house, loved by a woman physically unable to properly care for him. He had not been walked for over two years. At 124 pounds he was so overweight that you could use his back as a dining table. Sweet loving and very gentle, but with a voice born of his heritage, hound and shepherd. He also had no house manners.

Frankie was abandoned and frightened, seen running for days near the National Forest. Finally coaxed by some kind people into their car. Poor Frankie; scared, in heat, absolutely no training, plus a bad fungal infection.

WAG comes to the rescue! Both dogs are placed into loving foster homes. Monty is allowed to sleep inside for the first time in years, loses 34 pounds and learns house manners and how to play ball. Frankie learns to trust people, live in a house, sit, stay, come, shake hands and spin. She is altered and her bout with a fungal infection is won.

Along comes a wonderful couple, so sad and lost after the death of their dog Norman. They meet many WAG dogs. With their open loving hearts they are able to see past the things that have made these two dogs harder to adopt. On the surface Frankie is just another black dog and Monty is almost a senior at 7. They see the sweet nature of both the dogs and watch them play together. With Monty's singing and soulful eyes and Frankie's love for life, both dogs have captured their hearts. The couple adopted them both and said:

"We love Monty and Frankie so much. Each as sweet and endearing qualities, and some delightfully funny traits too! They have so much fun playing together...we love to watch and listen to Monty talking all the way through it! They are sleeping all through the night, come and go through the doggie door and they love their walk in the forest.

We are so thankful to W.A.G., We want to thank everybody we have met through W.A.G. for their help, and for the positive experience we had. It was tough for us to choose, until we met Frankie, Then everything fell into place. Monty and Frankie are the perfect pair for the pair of us!"

LITTLE ORPHAN ANNIE PEANUT PANSY

A scruffy, horribly thing, old gal wandered along the roadway on a chilly, dark starless night. Her long hair was dirty, matted and so full of stickers that sitting was painful. We'll never know how she ended up there, but she was found by a stranger who delivered her to the Humane Society for safe keeping. The sweet old orphan was there for over a week yet no one came to claim her. She was listless and depressed, in spite of her good care and attention. Suddenly one afternoon she experienced a seizure and shelter personnel were concerned for her safety. WAG was called to see if we could help the old girl.

WAG accepted Orphan Annie, as she became known, and her foster parents, John and Sue Miles, took her to veterinarians, R. Ginny Johnson and Dr. Joyce Murphy, the next morning. Annie experienced two more seizures along the way and was put on medication. The following day she was taken to Country Grooming where Shelley Denton donated her excellent grooming skills. Underneath all that tangle was an adorable , miniature schnauzer!

For the next month Annie, more commonly called Peanut, got fattened up and adjusted to life with the Miles' two dobies and WAG rescue, Pogo. She was slow to come out of her shell but made slow, steady progress. She was always sweet and loving and was the best little lap warmer one could ever meet. Eventually, she began to run in the yard, and investigate all the critters and sounds, and try to keep up with the dobies.

At a WAG adoption day at the Clallam County Co-op, Annie met her new mom. She now lives in a wonderful, friendly place with Lucy, Diane, 2 kitties, 2 goats, and 1 other dog. She's become outgoing and happy and rules the roost. She loves her new home and the life that's been given to her by her wonderful new family. Her name is now Pansy but, to her foster mom, she'll always be the Peanut.

WEBSTER

Webster, an 8-year-old Boxer, was delivered to WAG after being found wandering the streets with festering, infected lacerations between his shoulder blades. Dr. Sharon Jensen at Greywolf Veterinary Hospital made room for Webster in her schedule early the next day, and spent some time cleaning the wound with Webster under anesthesia. Of greater concern was a mass on his thigh, diagnosed as a mass cell tumor with the potential for being quite serious

Webster's owners responded to a "found dog" ad placed in the Peninsula Daily News and learned that the would on his back was caused by a harness he wore when tied on a runner--it tore his skin to shreds. After a tearful, thoughtful discussion, his owners decided to turn him over to WAG so that we could take care of his medical problems, and in hopes that we could fin him a home where he could run feely in a secure yard.

Webster's wounds healed while WAG waited for the right home to come along. He learned to live in the house and to pee in the yard. He learned about cats, made friends with the other dogs, and acted as "Mr. Mom" to foster puppies. He became so attached to his foster mom that she worried that Webster would have a hard time leaving them.

Finally the fight someone saw his picture on www.Petfinder.com. When they visited with their children and dog, Webster put on his cutest personality and thoroughly charmed them. He and their dog played chase until they couldn't run any longer. And when they got ready to leave, Webster just assumed he would be going with them and rand and jumped into their car. He even forgot to say goodbye to his foster mom!

Thanks to Dale and Cindy for opening your hearts and home to Webster.

ZOEY

Due to arthritis symptoms, Zoey was relinquished to the Humane Society by her owner. Because of her age (7 yrs) and medical condition, Zoey found it difficult to find a new home. When the Humane Society became overly crowded with new dogs, Zoey's time was drawing short. The Human Society asked WAG if we could take a few dogs and Zoey came to us.

With lots of love and medical attention, Zoey was on the road to being a happy, healthy dog with her new foster parents. Because Zoey is a Rottweiler she found it hard to get adopted. She looked ferocious but was really just a pussy cat inside.

Finally, after several months of waiting for just the right family, Zoey found her forever home. She is now part of a happy pack of 5 dogs and 2 humans. Zoey, a 110 lb Rottweiler, is one of the smaller dogs in the family. Zack and Zeus are Rottweiler Great Dane mixes weighing in at 125 and 185 lbs. They are all older dogs, and the family activities are geared around things they can do with their dogs. This includes walks at Marymoore Park, picnic outings to the river, walks on the beach, and swims in the ocean.

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