Rescue Kharma

Anyone who has ever spent much time rescuing dogs knows that there is definitely something in the atmosphere that steps in to help when the situation really warrants. Call it luck, call it coincidence - I call it Rescue Kharma! While the pragmatist in me resists this notion, I've seen it happen WAY too many times for it to be pure happenstance.

Just such an example took place right in my own area during the past week. I got to witness as kharma unfolded, and meet all the parties involved. In the history of ForPaws Corgi Rescue, this is the first time in which a former owner and the new owner met face-to-face and the dog was officially blessed into his new home. As rescuers, it was a pretty cool experience for us!

Meet Guinness - the star of this show:

Guinness lived with his first family from the time he was a puppy. That worked out fine until a baby came along. Now she's a two-year-old toddler, mobile and active. Like so many corgis, the child's typical behaviors made Guinness very nervous and the combination wasn't safe. These situations, terribly heartbreaking for the owner, are commonly seen in corgi rescue. Ultimately, his family accepted that Guinness needed a new home.

Just as we were making arrangements to take Guinness into foster care, up popped a new online adoption application. When I read the contents, I knew instantly that this was Guinness' new family! While we get applications from all over the United States, this family lived quite close the home in which Guinness was to be fostered...right here in the San Francisco Bay area! Tell me that's not kharma!

Last weekend Guinness arrived with his first family. They were kind enough to tell us all about him and were pleased to be able to meet his planned adopters - wonderful people with prior corgi experience and great dog sense. It didn't make it any easier to say goodbye, but it did provide a measure of comfort to know that he'd be in such good hands.

This is one great little corgi. He's got a wonderful temperament, happy, smart, affectionate - everything a corgi should be. His former owners worked with him a lot and he's got nice manners and some solid training under his belt. The ultimate "plug and play" corgi!

Guinness stayed in foster care for a week while we observed him and learned a lot more about him. One of the things we learned is that he doesn't always appreciate being a photographic subject. (Note the look I got when approaching with the camera.)

Last Friday he went home with his new family. During the time in foster care, his new people came by every day to take Guinness for walks. By the time he was ready to go home, they'd already bonded. You should see his face light up when he sees them!

On Saturday morning, Denali and I went to visit. We took the dogs for a nice walk in the neighborhood. It was a beautiful day to be out with your corgi. It's a beautiful new chapter for Guinness!