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"Bentley" was the name a group of us christened this show-quality dog that had been picked up as a stray in an affluent suburb of the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex and unclaimed by his owner. He was taken into Rescue there and railroaded to Conroe for fostercare. Arriving on a Sunday afternoon, he was only a few days post-op from his neutering, and seemed to be panting a lot, but then it was a hot day and his week had been stressful. In the next few days, Bentley seemed to calm quite a bit, but still was panting with any exertion at all. On Friday night, Bentley became critically ill and was rushed to the local Emergency Vet Clinic in acute respiratory distress. There were times when we didn't think he was going to survive the 15 minute drive to the clinic! However, the excellent care given to him enabled him to be discharged in the morning with numerous meds and instructions to return if he took a turn for the worse. He did improve on his medications, and seemed to be getting better, but not quite enough by the time his medications ran out. On a follow up visit to our regular rescue vet, he was placed on stronger antibiotics that made him well again. There were other issues to contend with as well. Bentley was EXTREMELY food aggressive. He would go after other dogs when they were eating to get their food. He was never left alone with the other dogs at mealtime. To force him to focus on other things, he was fed "on leash", and encouraged to focus on his foster mom or dad after he finished his food and the other dogs were still eating. How in the world would we EVER find a home for a dog like this?! When we received the email and application from Lisa - who happened to live in the same suburb where Bentley originated AND used the same vet - we wondered if this was an omen. Communications continued and Lisa was undaunted by his food aggression which did seem to be improving with the constant effort. After the glowing report from the home visit, the entire Texas Rescue Group was in agreement that this was the right placement for Bentley. This is where Bentley belonged. Next came the arrangements to get Bentley back to the Dallas area. We knew we were working on a railroad (our term for a transport using "volunteers to do segments of a long journey"), but would an adoptive family feel that we were imposing on them if we asked them to help with it? Lisa's husband, David, didn't hesitate. So, we met in parking lot of a gas station on the side
of the freeway in Centerville, TX to exchange Bentley (and execute the adoption agreement) for the 2 puppymill dogs that we were taking into foster. The photo above and the emails exchanged with Lisa & David have only confirmed what we believe: Bentley is HOME to stay! |
