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fortheloveofpitties-blog · 6 years ago

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Being Duncan’s Dad -a story from Sandy Caravello

1. Why did you choose to adopt and how was the adoption process?

I thought I’d give a little background on our animal kingdom to set up a story of a young “boy” named Duncan whom we adopted through Fetching Tails. Here we go…We’ve always been a purebred animal home with our last 2 dogs being German Shepherds. After approximately 17 years with our Shepherd’s and after they crossed the “Bridge” we finally decided to adopt a pup from a local rescue about 8 years ago and the young lad we named Mead is still with us today along with his 18 year old Chi named Lenerd and male cat named Oryn. Mead, by the way’ is the “best dog ever” and we love him dearly and swore we would never purchase from a breeder or mill and we quickly understood what animal rescue groups were all about. In 2013 we decided to volunteer for a local rescue and open our home to foster dogs that would surely not survive if left to the devices of the overcrowded and flu ridden kennel system. We’ve fostered dozens of dogs and it’s always difficult to say goodbye to them, but so happy for the adoptive families and the new life in their forever home. Are you starting to see where this is going? As a fosters for Fetching Tails, it is not uncommon to receive a call from the founders and be asked whether or not we can open our home for another dog and intervene to avoid any chances of euthanasia.

2. What made you fall in love with your adopted pup?

Enter January 2016. Temperatures were sub-zero and we just found a home for a difficult case (Petey). We were decompressing from our emotional journey when we rec’d the text message from Fetching Tails of a tiny 3 month old black pit bull terrier mix that was dropped off at Chicago Animal Care and Control by a good Samaritan that found him on the street wandering frozen and afraid. The message was desperate and it is likely that this little boy will not survive since he was so emaciated and in absolute horrific condition. Therefore, they needed a foster home immediately if he was going to have any chance of survival. It took us 3 seconds to respond with a “Yes, we’ll take him in!” We nursed him back to health with the help of our rescue and veterinary partners. Okay, now Duncan was available to adopt in February 2016. We had a few applications to adopt him, but our mandatory home checks or other credentials didn’t line up. We were determined to find his forever home! A few more months had passed and we were really getting attached to Duncan. Slight digression here……Why the name Duncan? His medical was covered by the Bryan and Amanda Bickell Foundation. Bryan was a part of the Chicago Blackhawks and we used the name Duncan after the Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith. Back to Duncan’s journey. My wife and I were determined, Duncan was going to find his home and we had a great application to adopt. We told each other, “This is it!” We can’t wait and all the while we were saying if this falls through we will call it fate and make Duncan a part of our family. Guess what happened? Yep you guessed it. The application fell through and on Easter weekend of 2016 and we adopted Duncan! What a blessing and what an Easter!

3. What has life been like since adding your new family member to your family?

This boy was so dependent on us for his survival and he was so appreciative. How could we say no to his kisses, cuddling, crazy antics, energy and LOVE! We first met Duncan when he was 3 months old and 10 lbs and now he is 90 lbs of lap dog and to this day from the day we began fostering he has changed very little. We cannot imagine our lives without Duncan. He is quite an inspiration and a wonderful brother to Mead, Lenerd and Oryn. Does he aggravate them? Without a doubt. Does he get in trouble? Who doesn’t? Let’s not forget he is still the baby in the family and with that comes a little spoiled boy, but he’s earned every bit of it! People, animals and life are Duncan’s passions and that works just fine for this household!

4. Any advice you can give to someone thinking about adopting?

Do it!! Why wouldn’t you adopt? There is something about the immediate bond that takes place with your adopted animal. You see it in their eyes. “I Love You “and most of all “Thank You for saving me!” The process to adopt cannot be any easier for those who are truly wanting to add an animal to their family, but you have to stay committed to them and give them the best you have to offer in the form of training, love and affection. Their lives were likely difficult before so patience is a virtue!

Consider fostering……

Lastly. When people ask us “How do you do give up your foster pups and not fall in love with them? Isn’t it painful? Our answer is a resounding YES!, but it eliminates that whole question when you consider 3 very important things 1) finding a forever home for a life you just saved, 2) creating more space to save another life and 3) giving the adoptive family the love, joy and furry family member that they’ve been in search of. We continue to open our home to foster dogs and the best teachers and trainers we have are our own animals. They are truly therapy dogs to the incoming fosters!

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