We've been working with dog rescues for about 7 or 7 years, and through an event, on Saturday, May 30th, I (Rob) got to work with a rescue that was trying to place their last couple of dogs, so the rescue manager could retire. On that date I had a table at the MId-Atlantic Doxiefest in Belair, Maryland to promote my book "Pets and the Afterlife." - It was an outdoor event and fundraiser for Coast-to-Coast Dachshund Rescue. I met a lot of great people and dogs, and dogs looking for forever homes, too.
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| Author Rob Gutro and Harley- looking for a home |
While there, I met Jane, who was volunteering and helping a Fredericksburg, Virginia dog rescue. The rescue is managed by Yolanda McEntire, who is working to get her last few dogs adopted as she is retiring.
Jane brought over Harley, a 13 year old, senior black and tan dachshund. I immediately took to him and really wanted to see him go to a good home. He had been with the rescue for over a year, and Yolanda really wanted to find him the perfect place.So I offered to help.
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| Harley's close up! |
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| Jane and an adoptable dog |
What I've done with Coast to Coast Dachshund Rescue (where Tom and I are members and volunteers) is that I take a short video of the dog, take several photos (and after assessing the dog's behavior and talking with the foster parent) I write a biography. I've learned that many people really, really want to see a video and read a bio about how the dog behaves, his habits, training, health, etc. so I include all of those things.
I've now used this format for 5 dogs and all five have been adopted within 2-3 months of making the videos and biographies live. What a wonderful reward to find these dogs homes.
Well, on July 4th, we received an email from Yolanda that Harley had indeed found a forever home in West Virginia. That totally made my July 4th (and the week).
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| A short video of Harley I made |