Looking for dogs for our next training class is one of the best parts of what I do. This time I am excited announce that we will be working with  Oakland Pet Adoption Center!!! They have agreed to donate dogs for FREE to our program! They believe in our mission and are excited to help and so are we….

Donna Fournier (Dog Trainer), Jamie Gorm (Dog Trainer apprentice), his wife Lillie and myself headed out to see what we could find Friday. In the car on the way, I knew I had to have ‘the talk’ with Jamie and Lillie. Going to a Humane Society or Animal Control is very hard…seeing the dogs living in that environment. With Jamie in training and observing body language, he would surely see many signs of stress and anxiety. I needed to prepare them that we couldn’t save them all. And with that being said, I went directly into the details of what we were looking for in this next group….

We had been at the Shelter for about an half hour and we were in the last room full of dogs……I had stopped at the bottom cage, where the sweetens brown/gold eyes were staring at me. I kneeled down to get a better look at this cute face of a puppy, when I glanced at her cage card I realized she wasn’t a puppy, but three years old! Perfect……she reminded me of a brown Hershey (one of our other Stigggys Dogs). I looked up for Donna to see if she had passed by this ‘gem’…..when I noticed her kneeled down in front of another cage. She was leaning in and cooing softly. I gave up my place in front of sweet brown dog, to go see what all the fuss was about. I practically tripped over Jamie who was also kneeled down in front of another dog, face to face, rubbing his ears…..but just then Donna’s eyes caught my attention….tears were forming in them….“How can someone do that?” she cried “Drop off a senior 9+ dog at the Shelter???”

My emotions couldn’t take any more…..every memory from my days at working at the Humane Society came running through my mind, pictures of the dogs I couldn’t save and lost, the countless people who would drop off their old dog only to walk right through the front doors to find their new puppy…..Tears were rolling down my face now, both Donna and I were crying! Here I was previously warning Jamie and Lillie, and out of all the people, it was Donna and I having the breakdown…..

I knew then that dog “Popei” had become a ‘mission for Donna, as he also reminded her of her beloved Lea that recently passed. Donna immediately flashed pictures and was on the phone calling friends….her determined fueled by anger. Hard as it was to pull Donna away from Popei,…..

Three hours later we left Oakland Pet adoption with 2 potential Stiggys Dogs (we will be picking them up on Monday). AND Donna also walked out of there with one Happy and Very lucky dog named Popei…yes, she found him a home. Mission completed.

Thank you Oakland Pet Adoption for helping us “Rescue One to Rescue Another” only this time in a different capacity….