It takes a village to get a dog adopted. Carrie is Going to Washington to her forever home. She’s one of 10 – 10!! – dogs who left the shelter to venture to northern adopters recently. They all have stories (but let’s be real: mostly they all start with spaying and neutering). Here’s Carrie’s.

She came to the shelter from a home with too many dogs and an owner not properly caring for them. She wasn’t spayed and I suspect she’s had a litter, but who knows? She’d been at the shelter for a while, is very shy, and was often overlooked. But not by one of the kennel techs – these are the people who feed, take the dogs outside, and clean kennels every day. They have the most one on one interaction day in and day out with the 250 dogs in residence any given day. He asked me to spend extra time with her because he was worried about her. Some dogs do better than others at the shelter. He was worried she was withdrawing even more.

The first time I took her out it took me five minutes to get the leash on and she was backed up against her kennel wondering if I was ok. She had some spotty patches of fur too. We spent a while together outside that first day. She wouldn’t take treats from me and she didn’t get too close. But she was definitely friendly and a beauty. Over time she started coming to her kennel door when I came into the shelter. She started taking treats. We went on car rides. She let me give her a bath. Her fur filled out in those patchy spots. She let uber volunteer and our board president take her outside to be introduced to a dude named Slim Jim because I had plans for this little lady to have a brother dog.

As it turns out, I’m a puppy pusher. 🤷‍♀️ To be fair, Carrie’s adopters were looking for a dog and she fell into place at the right time. And now… NOW Carrie is on her way. Lots of people (and my four dogs who gave her some social time) are making that happen. The lovely people at the vet who spayed her, vaccinated her, and cared for her during her stay – and had a little teary eye when she jumped up to say hello to me. The shelter folks who’ve been with her all along the way (she said a special good bye to her kennel tech friend today). The driver who is going out of his way to make a stop in the DC area. The friend who is picking her up tomorrow. And her forever family who will get to be loved by this sweet lady who just needs a little bit of time to come into her own.

Can’t wait to see you in DC sweet girl. I’m so happy for you – my tears are of joy for you.

Side note: as she was leaving a dog wearing a collar but who’d been wandering was brought in by a lady who found her walking the streets during the storms. One out. One in. Spay and neuter people.

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