[tucker]

Last year I was given a very sweet but untrained purebred dog. He was in awful shape- obviously badly neglected and abused. He was given to me through "a person that knew a person." I did find that 'person' and reported them, then set about giving this dog the TLC he deserved. Months later he was growing back fur, putting on weight and learning to go to the washroom outside. I then started looking for a good full time family for him. I made the mistake of making him 'free to a good home' and a list of wacko's started calling. I insisted on interviewing those that made it through the first round- only to discover that people were giving me wrong numbers, lying about their living situations, and one woman even came at night insisting that I give him to her right then- never even attempting to bond with him first. We hung on knowing that the right family was out there. A month later a great aunt came for an afternoon visit and without even knowing our boy was available- they fell in love and it was a very happy ending for all. Thank goodness I did not let him go with just anyone. It was really an eye opener for us.