One Last Car Ride Together

Bandit went to his Forever Home today. He has a new mom & dad & doggie sister. They took him for a recheck at the VSA on their way home, where he got a new set of xrays and the ok from the doctor to resume all activities. Bandit can finally be purely Bandit again!

Our house seemed immediately quieter and emptier after he left. It always does whenever a foster dog is adopted.

When I now think of the kind of dog I would adopt (if we could adopt another dog), it would be a dog that nobody else wanted because that's the kind of dog that would need me most. That's the rescue mentality that's too deeply rooted in me now. But there was a time when I daydreamed about the kind of dog I wanted, not because I felt a sense of obligation to help that dog, but just because that was the kind of dog I wanted. It's been a long time since then, but I think Bandit would have been that dog of my dreams. Happy, silly, playful, affectionate, unfailingly good-natured, and yes, even somewhat exasperating.

I don't get terribly terribly sad anymore when a foster dog is adopted because I know my job is done. We are just a pit stop on their journey to their forever home. As I write this, I am , somewhat selfishly, sad that Bandit will no longer be a part of my life. Of the almost 50 dogs we've fostered so far, he comes the closest to reminding me of my first 2 dogs, Jasper & Samson. They changed my life, and the way I feel about dogs today is completely and purely because of them. They were both german shepherds, and a small part of me never wanted to have another german shepherd again--because THEY were my german shepherds. Bandit comes closest.