Happy Ending

It took six months but my darling foster monster, Scout the Amazing Sock Eating Dog, finally found the perfect family.

It started with a phone call a couple of weeks ago - they saw his profile on the lab adoption site.

They're dedicated lab lovers, always get their dogs from rescue and have experience with dogs that are a handful. They lost one of their dogs - a 13 year old yellow lab - a few months ago, and were ready to adopt another. They have an enormous fenced yard, another dog and the husband has a home office. Oh, and they live in my town not 10 minutes away, and use a vet that I know and trust!

In short, they are the fairy-tale perfect family for a dog like Scout, who needs a lot of time, attention and exercise from experienced dog people. I cried after I got off the phone with them, so sure was I that my little foster monster was on his way out to a new family.

Scout snuggled up to comfort me when he found me crying after I talked to his future family for the first time. This was the last picture taken of him at my house.

Even though he's a total lover and has reasonable manners now, a part of me was sure they wouldn't want him because, let's face it, even though he's a different dog than we got six months ago (a dog so badly behaved another foster family had him for all of 20 minutes before they cried uncle) he still has a significant issue - if he gets in a mood, he will wander off and eat things that could kill him. But they seemed enamored with him after their first visit, and even knowing the worst about him they asked me to bring him over the next week to meet their dog.

He's beautifully socialized, so getting along with the other dog was a piece of cake. Even better, their next door neighbor has a pair of 1 year old Golden Retrievers, and they raced comically up and down the fence with Scout until all 3 of them were tired out. It was so clear the dogs would all get along they asked if they could have him for a test weekend.

They picked him up the following Friday night (about 10 days ago), with the assumption being that they would drop him off Sunday night and then think about it. I kissed him on the nose and told him to have a fun weekend.

They called me Saturday. They loved him to pieces and never wanted to bring him back. They wanted to know how soon they could sign the papers and make it official.

I cried. Not because I wanted him for my own, although I did come to love him like my own. He wasn't meant to be mine, and both he and I felt it. I cried because it was so sudden and I didn't get to say goodbye.

A few days later the papers were signed and I went over to pick up my food bowl and bid him a proper farewell. He was really happy to see us, but it was clear he was already their dog. After only 6 days with them he had obviously bonded more strongly with them than he had after 6 months with me - it was blindingly obvious he was meant to be a part of their family.

We played for a few minutes and then said our goodbyes. When we left, Scout was watching his new mom feed carrots to the neighbor's horses while his new dad hid treats around the yard for him to track. I left with a sense of comfort and peace. He's a quirky little character; an easy dog to love but a hard dog to live with. But I can tell they get him the way I do, and accept him for what he is, and he's going to have a long and happy life with his new family.

Scout with his new parents and playmate Brett.