Finding Fudge

As I was looking through pictures of dogs on the Puppy Love Rescue site, I came across a picture of a dog that jumped out at me. He looked like he might have personality and his eyes drew me in. He was black with some brown and a light tan trim, mostly on his legs which looked to be on the short side. He was sitting sideways but looking back at the camera with his large tongue out licking the side of his nose. His back legs pointed to the right but his front legs were a little more toward the camera and his body was rotated clockwise enabling him to look directly at the camera. He was billed as a corgi mix, which was something that interested us. I showed the picture to Kris and we decided to look into adopting. We filled out the rather extensive application from. Turns out that rescue agencies are quite particular about who they will allow adopt one of their dogs. We had found a couple of other potential dogs on other rescue sites as well. The corgi mix was the first dog we applied for but they were a small operation and the process was slow. In the meantime we looked into two other dogs also from animal rescue sites. One of them turned our application down. We didn't really know why. It made us more cautious about how we responded on further applications. We did not know exactly where and how we needed to improve our performance, but we understood we needed to step up our game. We started adopting some of the lingo like "forever home". We started emphasizing our dedication to a comprehensive veterinary coverage (it even included birth control). We were fully committed to provide medical attention under even the most extreme conditions. We continued to look around but I kept thinking about that dog at Puppy Love. He was the one I really liked.

By the time we finally heard back from Puppy Love I was fed up with the rescue organizations and all the hoops we had to jump through. It was just too much. We weren't trying to get an M-16 assault rifle, we were only trying to adopt a dog who was homeless. We owned a house with a fenced in yard, we had jobs, and we lived in a safe neighborhood. Plus, we were experienced dog owners and our previous dog almost made it to 16. How bad could we be? Wow, anyone can acquire a brand new dog, but evidently only a select few can acquire a second hand one.

Still I liked that dog from Puppy Love. He was currently staying in a foster home. We were finally contacted and agreed to meet at a neutral sight. The foster mom, her daughter, Kris, me, and “the Dog" all met at a park. The dog's name was Fudge and we were told he needed some socialization and in particular he didn't like men. He came right up to me wagging his tail. He had a beautiful long black tail that would stand up and curve back towards the front of his body. Kris and I took turns petting him and then we asked if we could walk with him around the park a bit. The mom said yes but indicated he might not want to go off with strangers. We took his leash and he seemed happy to go with us and we took off. I heard the daughter express surprise that Fudge would go so willingly with us especially with me, being a “man” and all, holding the leash. (Should I be worrying about my masculinity?) We walked around with him no problem, he seemed happy. After we returned I started to play a little with him. I put my hand in his mouth to see what he would do and he was fine with it. I got on the ground with him as he laid down on his side by me. I moved over and rested my head on his belly and he was fine with me doing that. That was it, I was already becoming attached to Fudge. I told Kris I had to leave because if I stayed any longer it was going to hurt too much if we ended up not being able to adopt him. We were told we would need to have a home inspection visit and there was also another family who was interested in him.

It took a few days to get "the inspection" scheduled. This was a very discrete organization. We are only allowed to contact the head person. The foster person only interacts with that person. The inspection person doesn't know who the foster person is and only interacts with the head person as well. While waiting for our inspection, Kris and I reviewed our house and yard for safety in regards to a dog. We removed or repaired anything we thought the inspector person might find questionable. I dug along the back fence line in and buried a row of cinder blocks in the ground at the bottom of the fence to ensure a dog would not be able to dig under it. We elevated all the yard stuff like fertilizer in the back shed and the garage. We moved anything with a sharp edge into a safe and secure spot. We asked our neighbor, who had done multiple dog adoptions, to critically inspect our house and yard. We were anxious and the waiting was weighing on us. The inspector came. He was a nice guy. He took a quick look around the house and yard. He asked a question about the garage doggie door we had put in for our previous dog. He quickly approved us. Great! We were in no? He didn't know, we would have to wait to hear from the head "contact" person. A couple of anxious days went by. Kris was so anxious that she could hardly eat and I wasn't much better. Kris called for an update and we learned that the foster mom was having trouble deciding between us and the other family. The gentleman from the other family was evidently a paraplegic and they also had another dog. What were we gonna say? "Hey we got two good legs to walk him with!". "Hey, we will never run into Fudge with wheel chair!". This information was not helping. Meanwhile Kris was doing her best to sell our virtues to our contact while expressing just how much we would love and care for this dog in his “forever home”. We were told the foster mom would make a decision over the weekend. Well that completely ruined the weekend. Fudge had yet to take even one step into our home and we were already pining of potentially losing him. I tried to focus on the daughter remarking about how comfortable Fudge was with us in the park. I was banking on her being our ace in our hole.

Fudge trying to keep awake

Well you know the result, the cosmic forces lined up in our favor and we ended up winning the Fudge lottery. Now all we had to do was set a time and place with the foster mom and us for the hand-off. As it turned out the head contact person had to be there as well. We were informed that meeting was to take place in a deserted school yard in Woodlake, Saturday at noon. The instructions were to bring cash. I looked at Kris and said "We're getting a dog right? It's beginning to sound like a drug deal.” We were happy and excited and we made sure to get there early. There was no one around as we anxiously waited for the clock to strike 12. We noticed a single person enter the far end of the yard but they just stayed on that end and proceeded to lay down on a bench out there. Finally the foster mom and daughter showed up. We all sat around and talked, taking turns petting Fudge waiting for the head contact person. 30 minutes went by and nothing. It was looking like we may not be getting Fudge that day after all. The foster mom decided to take a walk around. She walked towards the ball field on the other end of the school yard where the person was laying on a bench. She finally stood up and walked towards the foster mom. They talked and it turned out that she was the head contact we'd been waiting for. She came over and greeted us. We gave her the bag of cash and we filled out some paperwork. She informed us that Fudge needed to be chipped and she would do it here. The chip contact info would stay with them for a year after which it would be shifted to us. I inquired why the delay and she said it's a safety thing to ensure the dog is being cared for but if Fudge got loose or lost we should contact them because of the chip. Further discussion revealed that if he got loose too much they would take the dog back. Ah-ha, right then I knew we would not be calling them. Why would we tell them anything if it might lead us to losing him? We'll find him the old fashioned way if it comes to that.

With the help of the foster mom the head “contact” person corralled Fudge and chipped him as promised. Fudge yelped loudly. He was not happy and you could see in his expressive eyes he was scared. We were now good to go, but what a start. He was scared, confused, and the foster family was crying as they were saying goodbye to him. It was not the happy occasion we were hoping for...

We got out of there as quick as we could, stopped and spent $100 in toys and supplies and headed home. We all sat out on the back deck. Well, Fudge mostly sat on the walkway by the deck staring at us. He was tired and wanted to sleep. His head was doing one of those nodding things we all do when we start falling asleep while sitting up. The poor guy was so worried that he could not let himself fall to sleep. He was unsure as to what was going on. He followed us as we went in for dinner and continued to follow us as we moved from room to room that evening. By the next day he seemed more relaxed but he continued to follow us from room to room. He would want to be wherever we were for the next 12 years or so. If we were in different rooms he would sometimes place himself halfway between us or he would rotate between the two rooms. It wasn't until his later years that he would sometimes go off to a room by himself. Never mind being in the room where it happened he was about being in the room with his people. Well, truth be told, his #1 priority was to be in the room where the food is.

Kris and Fudge eventually ran into the person who chipped him that day and at first sniff Fudge looked up and started barking at her. Evidently he was still holding a grudge.

We became his “forever home” and he became an integral part of Kris and I for the next 15 plus years. He passed away at home last week at the age of 16 and I feel like a part of me went with him. I am so thankful we found each other.