The Dog Swap

Well, the other rescue came through. Their deal was for our rescue to consider a dog in the local shelter and then that dog's advocate (who couldn't take him home due to cat aggression) would take Linus and "rehabilitate" him.  We loved the other dog and he's up on our pages as Rex. A fat headed young American Bully whose owner is in jail and not getting out anytime soon. He's a super chunk but has a great temperament and good with other dogs.  But he is really really young so that could change.

So after we pulled Rex, I got the call about Linus. I honestly think all of the dancing around regarding meeting up this week was to make sure we took Rex. Now I totally understand that some rescues can be wary of the turn and burn but we are not like that.  We already had an idea we would like Rex (pre a prelim eval on tues) or we never would have agreed to the swap.  

Yesterday afternoon I took Linus to his new foster home. Carried him through his house and put him in the backyard.  As predicted, the new foster home was not able to pet Linus as he retreated to the back of the yard.  He did manage to get his fingers sniffed as he made a close pass when playing with the other dogs.  It's going to be a long haul for Linus if he can ever make the bridge ( I am not confident). Either way, he's safe in a secure fence and does not need to worry about meeting anyone new.

I wonder still about the impact a potential placement will have on the breed and will always hope for the best.  I am not sure at all that Linus should not have been humanely euthanized and that may be what happens in the future - at least he will have some happiness in a yard before that happens.  The lesson here though is that when pulling a dog, make sure your expectations are clear from the starting gate and two organizations collaborating on the same dog may have different opinions in the end. If you feel your goals may not be in complete alignment - it is best to make sure that there are no shared custody arrangements.