10/08/2026
A little compilation of Foggy and Stormy enjoying their day de-stressing at the park with us.
It had been a rough week. We were adapting to life without a team mate who had been a big part of things and a huge help for the first year and a half here, after escalating mental health concerns spontaneously combusting in a confusing and disappointing manner.
We had just completed two amazing adoptions on 3 dogs we loved dearly (two separate full-day round trip adoptions to the other side of the state) and were weeks deep into coordinating additional adoptions including two sibling pairs of dogs and a handful of others… only to have one adoption completely fall through the day we were ready to head out, and the second sibling set adoption completely blow up less than 24 hours after a round trip transport to the adopter that ended up starting early one morning and finally ending with us arriving home the next morning.
The morning we got back from taking Foggy and Stormy, a solidly bonded pair of generally very mild mannered sisters, and woke up from a a brief nap after finally getting home, sick from sleeping in the car for a few hours just before daybreak close to a major fire zone when exhaustion allowed no further negotiation on drive time…. We woke to texts about them having a series of resource-guarding centered arguments and needing to be separated with Foggy returned to rescue, as well as that their over-fondness and slight pushiness for food in the first 24 hours was a problem…. we had already, prior to and at drop off, fully discussed their personalities and behavior - and potential for some stress/insecurity related behavior challenges in transitions such as a past foster home in the first couple weeks, or potential for resource guarding out of insecurity, as well as the potential to possibly chew things they shouldn’t in the beginning stage if unattended/lonely, and had been assured training would be sought should any issues arise. These messages came with demands of immediate resolution and separation of the two (despite they being networked from day 1 as a bonded pair, mandatory to stay together), with no willingness from the adopter to seek training or accept us personally coming to train on the weekend for free (which is our ONLY long distance availability), nor rotate and supervise girls briefly to integrate them to the new environment (which would have been easily done), nor to wait for us to be able to come retrieve them during our upcoming weekend availability. It was this day, or “I solve it myself” which was “taking Foggy to the shelter and keeping Stormy for myself” - verbatim.
On top of this? Our main girl who handles adoptions and training and transport and much of the social media stuff (and her own life and family), and was primarily involved on this adoption - was losing her beloved 16-year-old dog… not to anything loud or obvious or mind-altering, but due to rapidly disintegrating mobility, and a slow descent to shut down. The loss where you break your own heart to spare your cherished friend their dignity and comfort when you know they will never have a better day than the present one, which wasn’t as good as the one the day before, or the day before that.
And? Studying for licensing testing on top of all.
So, we all threw in where we could, knuckled down, and got through it, and spent another day midweek to get BOTH girls back, to the deep upset of the no-longer adopter.
But those kind of rollercoasters - wonderful and cherished dogs placed 7 hours away in what promised to be a good home and get training for anything needed and agreed to adoption terms - now threatening to dump a dog at a shelter if a message isn’t replied to within a few hours (which are in the midst of the busy work of every day)…. Working while reliving memories of the different parts of life that a dear friend is about to write their final line in, and having to make that choice… the juggling act eventually knocks the wind out of you, there are too many “To-Dos” pinging wildly off the corners of your brain and in the group messages, and the brain fog and headaches make getting anything done hard….
And you’ve got to rest, to step away, to recharge, the best you can.
And so….
…you take dogs out with the family. And you enjoy the moments. You worry about nothing more than where the dog wants to go, or have a little fun practicing things you’ve all worked very hard to learn, like long distance sit and stays. You enjoy the beautiful scenery, kids being kids, dogs being dogs.
And then after a while, after enough fresh air and open spaces clear your head, you pile everyone back in the car and go home… you wash some laundry, make some food, send dogs out to go play, and take a deep breath while sitting back down to hammer out a few more messages, answer a few more questions, and hopefully find wonderful homes for a few more friends.
