When Dewey showed up at the shelter with his powder face, everyone at California GSP Rescue breathed a sigh of relief when they heard he was microchipped. Dogs with microchips are required to be kept longer while the shelter attempts to notify the owner. Unfortunately, Dewey's former owner apparently hadn't registered the microchip and Dewey was left at unclaimed at the shelter. Fortunately, Dewey's entire life was about to change.After California GSP Rescue rescued Dewey from the shelter, he was quite a charmer. He got along well with other dogs and, like most of the dogs, loved attention. He appeared so easy to care for that the volunteers wondered why his previous owner hadn't gone to the shelter to claim him!A short time before Dewey arrived, Carolyn had lost her beloved dog Humphrey and had asked us to keep an eye out for a dog that would be a good fit for her and Gretchen. Once we saw how easy going Dewey was with other dogs and people, we knew he was a candidate for Carolyn to consider. We soon let her know that a dog had a arrived that she needed to meet.Carolyn loved Dewey but not his name. Seeing how he had only been given the name since being rescued from the shelter, it wasn't a big deal to change it. Carolyn did. After she adopted Dewey, she changed his name to Dooley and wrote this wonderful update:
He has been such a pleasure, and a perfect example of why senior dogs are so great! He turned out to be housebroken (Or else just a really fast learner). He doesn't dig, he doesn't chew, he doesn't jump up on people. He doesn't get bored; if nothing is going on, he just takes a nap. He doesn't need a lot of exercise--heck, he doesn't need any exercise at all, although he enjoys his walks around the block. He likes everybody and has a constant smile on his face. He gets along fine with his new sister Gretchen (although to my surprise I think he is the dominant one--not that it really comes up) and they share treat times and snuggle times with no disputes. I think he has become substantially brighter and livelier as he settles in--he's never going to be a live wire, but he's actually been seen galloping across the yard once or twice, and today, for the first time, he managed to get up on the spare bed. (He's been standing on the cushion on the floor for a few days, but today he decided to try and hop up, and he made it.) Of course he very quickly learned to use the footstool by MY bed to climb up there, so my hopes of having to share with only one dog soon evaporated!
He acted from the first as if being in a house was familiar to him. I'm not going to rant about letting an old family member like this just drift out of your life; you know how I feel. But he's now part of MY family and that's where he's going to stay!
Thanks to all the volunteers that got him to the rescue and thank you for suggesting him to me.
Thank you Carolyn, for giving an older dog a home and not just helping make the shelters less crowded but saving one that would have not been adopted. California GSP Rescue cannot rescue dogs like Dooley from shelters without individuals like yourself willing to give them homes.
