finding a good home for Zoe
I want to find a good home for Zoe, my fluffy-and-happy dog. { timing: most of this page was written in early-May 2020, and soon afterward I could add... }
a joyful update: I did find a good home for her. How? I posted a re-homing profile in adoptapet.com on May 7, got many responses the next day. I especially liked one, so we communicated. Sunday (Mother's Day) I drove Zoe to their home for a visit. She and they (her new people) immediately loved each other. I liked them and their situation, thought it would be good for her. We – well, the people (them and me) – decided “this should be her new home” but I wanted to be sure, to wait a little before my final decision, and enjoy a little more loving with my dog. Two days later (May 12) I hadn't changed my mind about giving her away, so I drove us to her new home and did it. Then I drove home alone, sad and happy — sad for me (because I was missing the dog I loved, and knew she would be missing me) but happy for Zoe and for them (because they now were loving our dog* and being loved by her) with deep satisfaction. / Zoe's new family is 3 vibrant young seniors (early 70's, like me) and their cockapoo dog (she & Zoe are friends) plus 5 grandchildren who visit. They know dogs, and love their dogs. They now are loving their new dog, are helping her enjoy the simple pleasures of living. I'm very thankful that we were able to find each other, so Zoe has a great new home. The result is win-win-win (for Zoe & them, and thus for me) so I'm very happy for all of us! {photos & videos of our beautiful-and-joyful doggy, in her old home & new home}
* She is "our dog" even though she's in a new home, is no longer living with me. Why? Because she always will be my dog (in memories & feelings), and now she also is their dog (in daily living). Mom and I were her people, and now she has new people!
a prediction becomes reality: During the 4 months when I was trying to find a good new dog for Mom, I wrote a prediction for dog-rescue organizations: "Mom and I can give your dog a loving time of Long-Term Foster Caring, and then find a good Forever Home for her." This optimistic prediction became actualized reality when I did find a good home for her.
The rest of this page is what I wrote about my beloved dog in early-May 2020, plus photos & videos. / The page ends with an explanation of why our dog-before-Zoe (who looked like Toto from Kansas/Oz) danced with joy, twice each day. { can you guess why it was twice? a clue }
Facts: She is a spayed female, 14 pounds, estimated (by shelter & vet) as 3 years old [in 2020 when I wrote this]. She has the “hybrid vigor” of a Yorkie-Pom, combining Yorkshire Terrier with Pomeranian. In Greek, her name (spelled Zoë or Zoe, pronounced Zoey) means “life” and she is full of life, enjoys the simple pleasures of living, like social interactions (especially with people, but also dogs), food, relaxation and sleep, doggie massage, play, walks, car rides, and more. In her 18 months with us she has been healthy, eating well, having vitality with energy. She is joyful & playful, housebroken, usually quiet, doesn't shed.
Reasons: Why do I want to let her go? It isn't for any “bad dog” reason. She is a “good dog” and if I wasn't moving away, I wouldn't be giving her away. {more about why I think “letting her go” will be good for me and her and you}
Observations: She is a beautiful dog with a wonderfully joyful personality. {photos & videos are below} She is an enthusiastic greeter — full of obvious joy that inspires joyful responses & interactions* — when I return to her (after sleeping, or from an errand) and when she meets new people. But after a few minutes of excitement, she relaxes, becomes calm & mellow, and if I touch her unexpectedly she doesn't respond with a “jump” because she is deeply relaxed internally, in mind and body. / She sometimes plays with a stuffed toy (as in this video) and does “fetch” with me. She enjoys her adventures of exploring the neighborhood in walks, or the special treat of traveling to new places in a car.
Zoe is a Facilitator of Joy: * In her attitude & actions, she can inspire people to be more joyful. During the 4 months when we visited Mom almost daily in a living facility, Zoe met many people and greeted them with enthusiastic joy, often by standing up and “dog paddling” for them. Most people would respond joyfully to her; then when they interacted with me, their joy (due to Zoe) would help our interactions be more joyful and better, because all of us (Zoe, them, me) were in a joyful mood. In this way, she was a facilitator of joy. A friend from church said “Zoe is a good role model for attitudes-and-actions we all should have, joyfully celebrating life, enthusiastically sharing our joy with others.” Like most dogs, Zoe is fun-and-loving, is a good role model for joy-and-gratitude. Life would be better if more people were more fun-and-loving! {although with Zoe – and many other dogs – the enthusiasm is obvious, during our person-to-person interactions the enthusiastic joy is usually expressed in ways that are more subtle, but are real, and can be recognized by others.} {joy and play: in one of Zoe's videos - it's in YouTube along with my juggling video - she isn't the focus, instead the stars are playful grandchildren who were inspired by her attitude & actions.} {why did our dog-before-Zoe dance with “no more pain” joy, twice each day?}
What might be a good home for Zoe? Basically, just being with people who love her and will take good care of her. But she loves social stimulation (more than I'm able to give her) so I think an ideal situation might be... three kids (7 to 16, with friends for Zoe to meet) plus father & mother, and a dog. But of course other situations also could work well, with more children or fewer (or none) who instead of 7-14 are a little younger or older, with no dog or two dogs; I think she will be happy in any home with people who love her and would help her enjoy the simple pleasures of life. {of course, this "good home" was only in my imagination; now in reality she has a very good home; I was hoping this wonderful outcome would happen, and it did, thus actualizing a prediction I made in 2018 when writing for dog-rescue organizations: "Mom and I can give your dog a loving time of Long-Term Foster Caring, and then (probably) find a good Forever Home for her." And fortunately I did find a very good home for her.}
Why do I want to let her go? It's mainly for me, but I think it also will be good for her and for you, and thus for us, with everyone winning. / for me: Our family always had a dog, in Iowa and then Anaheim. But during my 43 years of living away from family (although with regular visits), mostly in the northwest (Seattle) and midwest (Madison), I never had a dog. We got Zoe for Mom (not me) because she wanted a dog, and when I move back to the midwest – probably driving to Madison in June before moving on to Columbus in August – I want the freedom of not having a dog, especially when finding two new places to live. / for her: I think Zoe will have a better life, when all things are considered, if she has more social stimulation. Zoe and I love each other, but she misses “the good old days” when she had two main people (me and Mom) plus many other people during Mom's final 4 months — when she was in a nursing home and assisted living facility, August thru November of 2019 — when Zoe and I would visit Mom almost every day, so Zoe could joyfully interact with a variety of people; she also enjoyed socializing with other dogs when dog parks were still open. {the recent “social distancing” is disappointing for her, with no petting-of-her or the other interactions she wants, and she doesn't understand why} Now it's usually just me, and (although we love each other and I treat her well) I think she would be happier, with more zest in her life, if she had more than "just me." / for you: After reading this paragraph, you know that I'm not letting her go for any “bad dog” reason — instead she is a wonderful “good dog” and if I wasn't moving away, I wouldn't be giving her away — so you can be more confident that she also would be a wonderfully good dog for you. / for us: I think finding a good home for Zoe will be good for all of us, with win-win-win results. / reality: she now has a good home, and it's a win for all of us.
| Zoe in Prison: The first time I saw Zoe was her “mug shot” in the web-page of the animal shelter (Inland Valley Humane Society in Pomona,* November 2018) before Mom and I liberated her so we could love her and be loved by her, | * The animals of Inland Valley are treated well (by staff & volunteers who love them) but – like every shelter – it still is a “prison” with animals (dogs, cats,...) who are waiting to be set free and be loved.After being liberated, Zoe in her new back yard: |
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Zoe in her newer new home: bright-eyed & alert, |
and relaxed, |
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doggie in action, playing with toy frog, |
Zoe with me and Mom, Kathy and Phil (her husband, my cousin), | |
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| rolling with joy, perhaps inspired by the comforting prayer of Julia during April 2020, early in the unsettling pandemic? {what inspired our dog-before-Zoe to dance with joy?} |
fetching with vigor in her old back yard, {oops, if I had waited two seconds longer before pushing “stop” you would see the video end (as it begins) with her cute face looking up at you, with her urging me to “throw it again.” } |
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| dog paddle and zoe-spin, | fetching with vigor in her new home, | |
| Zoe inspiring grandchildren to be joyfully playful – this video is in my YouTube Channel. | ||
| before and after: a fluffy doggy (relaxing near Mom) becomes |
a cool doggy after her summer haircut. | |
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| profiles – early (soon after her liberation) | and later in her new back yard. | |
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Why did our dog dance with joy? (twice each day) I like cats, and love dogs because they (well, most of them) are fun-and-loving, are good role models for joy-and-gratitude. Life would be better if more of us were more fun-and-loving! Our family always had a dog. For more than 12 years, from early 2006 to May 2018 — before Mom & I got a new dog when we “won” Zoe in a raffle (at the shelter) so we could drive her home, to love her and be loved by her — our old dog was Kobe (yes, we're fans of the Lakers) who looked like Toto (from Kansas/Oz) and enjoyed the simple pleasures of life. During his final two years, Kobe had diabetes, so I had to give him insulin shots twice each day. This wasn't a pleasure for either of us. I didn't like doing it (but knew it was necessary) and he liked it even less, especially because he didn't understand how this pain was helping him, and why his buddy (who in all other ways treated him well) wanted to hurt him with a needle. Soon after the shots began, he developed a routine. At his eating time in the morning & evening, when I picked him up and put him on my lap – sitting at the kitchen table where he could see & smell his delicious food – he was fearful because he knew what would happen first, and it wouldn't be a "pleasure of life" he enjoyed. But... after the shot he knew (by using his experience-based dog logic) there would be no more pain, so he raced into the hallway where he joyfully danced in circles, on our way to the TV Room where he would eat, and I would love him with doggy massage, and he loved me by just being the dog he was. / Even though I again had caused him pain, he immediately forgave me, in another way (along with joy-and-gratitude) that fun-and-loving dogs are a good role model for us. This became our twice-a-day drama, when his anticipation of pain was followed by the emotional relief of “no more pain” and the simple pleasures of eating & loving. |
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