If you’ve been into Mighty Pet lately you may have met a sweet Golden Retriever while shopping. Most of you fall in love with him quickly, just like our family did. I have decided to share his story and his new beginnings as a #petstorepup.
I had been searching for just the right Golden Retriever or mix for a few years. Not actively, more waiting for the right one into fall in my lap. Somewhere in the midst of managing our families’ pet supply store over the last 6 years, I have completely fallen in love with the breed and have become a crazy Golden Retriever lady! However, I have also learned that rescues find you, you don’t find them (or so I believe). I knew when the time was right, the perfect Golden would find our family and fit right in.
I am not sure why I stayed up late the night I stumbled across Legacy Rescue online. I was mainly curious, just searching Pet Finder like I often do, seeing if anything interesting came up. Usually Golden Retrievers are hard to find through rescues in our area and I had applied to a few other local Golden rescues, but all have waiting lists for years! So when I came across Sansli’s (Chance) description, I thought I’d inquire. Little did I know what the inquiry was leading me to…
The next day I was contacted by a sweet woman in Massachusetts. They wanted to know more about our family, what the dog’s day would be like, what our family was like and what we enjoyed doing in our spare time. She asked all the right questions, the types of questions I would want someone to ask. I know how important it is to find just the right match to make sure the dog is going to be able to stay in the adoptive home and not be returned time and time again, solely because it is the wrong match. Sadly, this is something I see all too often.
Before I knew it I was getting e-mails from a representative in Turkey, sending me pictures and descriptions of all these Goldens’ needing to be taken off the streets of Istanbul. Was this real? It all seemed a little crazy at first. There were 3 dogs that they felt would fit our lifestyle as well as enjoy the atmosphere of a pet store plus the activity of a family with two little boys and another dog. Once I read Noble’s (Nobel) description and story I couldn’t stop going back to him. I found myself asking more questions and gathering more information about him and the adoption process for an international dog adoption. I realized that the process could be long but we weren’t in a big rush and I didn’t feel like the commitment of bringing a new pet into our home should be rushed.
However, I got a call from MA the next Wednesday telling me that they had a flight volunteer and transport from NY to WI! Something that rarely happens…and they would be flying the next Saturday! “Was I ready?” they asked. We were more ready than we even knew. Although getting everything together and arranged in less than a week was a little stressful, I wouldn’t change my decision to bring Noble home for the world.
It seemed strange at first to rescue a dog from another country, I even had a few people question why I would need to rescue a dog from another country when there are so many here that need rescuing. I feel it’s so important to find the right dog for your family, regardless of the circumstances. Would a dog from a local rescue been the right fit for our family? If I had just adopted the first Golden Retriever that came along? Too often people put impulse and want for an animal before truly making sure that all the right things are in place; considering all the things that need considered; breed, personality, other dogs in the home, kids, allergies, number of hours spent at work, activity level, money for food and vet bills. There is such a high rate of return in rescuing animals, sometimes the rescue is quick to release the animal to the first adopter, instead of the RIGHT adopter or the new owners don’t share all of the correct information, just to make the adoption seem right, when really it may not be. We are so grateful for the ladies in Turkey and MA for asking the right questions and quickly getting to know our situation enough to pair us with just the right dog, even though we never met! They are truly amazing at knowing these dogs personalities and asking the right questions. We cannot imagine our sweet Noble anywhere but with our family! If you’re wanting to learn more about #dogsofturkey. Check out this video and see why people are trying to save these animals. Golden Retrievers are the number one abandoned breed in Turkey.
And so the story of #noblebeginnings has begun.
