I’ve had the good fortune to have owned three remarkable dogs in my lifetime, and I adopted them all from the Houlton Humane Society.
In 1998 I brought home a German Shepherd/Collie mix and named her Adventure.
My husband Matthew and I called her “Addie.” In 2007, “Blackie” became our loyal and loving family farm dog for the next 14 years. After Blackie died this past fall, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to open my heart up to another dog or not. It was Wyatt, who was 12 at the time, who convinced me to go to the Houlton Humane Society “just to look” at the dogs. After the third time he asked me to go to the shelter, I finally relented and said, “Yes, we will go just to look, but don’t get your hopes up.”
We drove to the shelter after school one fall afternoon. When we pulled into the yard, we saw a white dog curled up in a spacious outdoor pen. He didn’t stand up or bark upon our arrival. “Let’s look at this dog before we go inside,” I suggested. Wyatt was already on his way over before I closed the truck’s door. When we approached, the dog stood up, stretched, and wagged his tail.
“What a handsome dog! He looks like a husky to me. I wonder how he got here?” While I rattled on, Wyatt had already crouched down and reached through the fence to pet the dog. “Be careful,” I warned, “we don’t know anything about him.” By this time an employee spotted us and asked if she could help us.
“We came by to look at the dogs,” I explained.
“He is the only dog we have at the shelter right now, and he’s not trained. He came to us because he’d get loose, run away from home for miles, and go into people’s yards and eat small animals.”
“Oh, no!” I exclaimed thinking of our three cats at home.
“You may fill out an application, and we will contact you when we have a dog that best matches what you’re looking for.”
A few moments later, a woman named CJ, who is the shelter manager, came out to introduce herself to me. I told her why my son and I were there and how I had been lucky enough to have adopted my two previous dogs from her animal shelter.
In the course of our conversation, I asked her more about the white dog. “He’s been with us for several months now, but he has tons of energy, and he’s not trained, so it’s been difficult to find a home to match his needs.”
Her words began to tug at my heartstrings. “We live on a farm in the country with lots of space, and I’m looking for a walking/hiking/running partner. Do you think this will help him calm down?”
“Yes, he needs to exercise everyday, twice a day. Also there’s a new trainer in town. His name is Tyler Jones, and he’s the owner of Purpose Pups. He’s met this dog before, and it was amazing what he taught him in just a short amount of time.”
“Okay, thank you! It’s been a long time since I’ve trained a dog from scratch. If we decide to do this, I have a feeling I’ll need all the help I can get. By the way, what’s the dog’s name?”
“His name is Dexter,” she replied. “Does he know his name?” I asked. “Yes, he does,” she answered. “How old do you think he is?” “His estimated age is two-years old.”
“I need to discuss this with my family and contact Tyler. I will call you as soon as we’ve made a decision.”
I turned to Wyatt who had been listening intently to every word and said, “Let’s go see Dexter before we go.”
Dexter was waiting for us when Wyatt knelt down and reached through the chain link fence to pet him. This time the dog leaned into Wyatt’s hands asking for more. He looked right at us with his intelligent caramel-colored eyes while we talked softly to him. “Ahhh look at him….this dog needs a home,” Wyatt said to me.
“I know he does Wyatt, I know he does.”
As we drove home, I could feel my heart pounding with excitement. I knew my heart was taking over my brain as it looked beyond the obvious red flags: Was I really ready to take on the challenge of adopting an untrained, intelligent, high energy, husky/shepherd mix who was infamous for bolting from home and eating his dinner on the run? Ready or not, Wyatt and I both knew the answer to this question … we just had to convince the rest of the family.
Lee-Rae Jordan-Oliver is an educator and author who lives in Hodgdon with her husband Matt and children Wyatt, Anna and Walker. Her column will appear on a semi-regular basis in The Houlton Pioneer Times.
