A day with Darby and her family

We had the best day ever out in Sequim thanks to Darby, her awesome dad Bill and rattie brother Butch.  When Darby was fostered with us she was extremely dog reactive, which we believed was due to the fact that Darby is blind.  The way she greeted dogs was so off-kilter that other dogs thought she was going to attack them. During her two months with us we had Darby fully separated from our other dogs.  We did try to integrate the dogs but, Catty couldn't tolerate Darby's greeting skills so it was a stint in separation for the girls.

When Darby moved to her adopted home in Sequim, she moved in with a very calm, very well balanced and very tolerant male rattie named Butch.  Within days, Darby figured out that Butch was pretty awesome and that he could not only tolerate her lack of dog greeting skills but he could also teach her how to appropriately greet other dogs.  Besides being reactive to dogs, Darby was also reactive to noise and her dad has helped her work through those issues as well.  Darby's dad rescues and rehabilitates horses, so he was pretty comfortable with adopting a dog like Darby who needed some special care and assistance.

Darby has been with her family for the last four months and she's a different dog than when she was with us.  You can see the joy in her body and face and that she loves her family very much.  As a foster parent we always hope that our foster dogs find a better home that we could have been to them -- and for Darby this is true in spades.  We could  not have asked for a more perfect family, setting and home for this special girl who took part of our hearts with her when she was adopted.   She is a good example of why we foster; why we deal with the potty accidents, the challenging behavior and the struggles and joy that come with fostering.  Darby's only way out of the shelter was via rescue and based on her blindness and presentation at the shelter it's shocking she made it out. There were days during the time we fostered Darby that I thought "what on earth are you doing", but this visit answered all of those questions.  Both my husband and I are so happy that we took a chance on fostering Darby and that her dad took a chance on adopting her.  She is our foster dog poster pup and we will always keep her in mind on those tough foster days!

Darby was so busy on the farm that it was hard to get a shot of her being still

 

Butch - Darby's amazing rattie brother

 

                           Darby out on the farm hanging with lots of dogs and having a great time!  Notice her checking in with Butch and he keeps an eye on her.

This is Oreo - he lives on the 30 acres with the rescued horses.  A number of years ago, Oreo showed up to the farm limping.  Darby's dad took him to the vet and they belive either his foot was injured from a trap or a chain that had wraped around his foot. No one ever came to claim Oreo so he now lives the good life of a farm dog.
 

All the dogs!! Such a great experience for everyone 

 

 

 

 

 

           Darby and Dandy enjoying the shade

 

Darby and Dandy having a tender molment - Kerloo is exausted

Butch keeping an eye on his sister and Darby she's just hanging out.  Kerloo's still sleeping!

                Four worn out and relaxed rats - what a sight. But wait what's that?!

 

A priceless picture that includes two of our harder foster pups - Darby & Dandy