The Waiting is the Hardest Part

Someone famous wrote–the waiting is the hardest part.

But actually, for some it is and for others, it isn’t.

With Krimpet, it’s not hard at all. I’m hoping to wait at least another week. The longer those puppies stay in Krimpet’s belly, the healthier she and they will be.

But for Gracie Lou, the waiting is hard. She is a people-focused dog. She LOVES to be with people. Right now, I’m her only people.

This dog has waited five years for someone to love her back the way she is ready to love them. So leaving her in her crate in the cottage, while I go inside to spend time with my dogs, breaks my heart a little, and it tugs at that familiar string that plays so often in my soul – why do some dogs (like Gracie Lou) live hard, lonely lives, and others (like Otis and Fanny and my Gracie) get rescued, chosen, and spoiled rotten?

I have no answer. I repeat the numbers Kim Kavin quoted in her book The Dog Merchants, all the time. If just half of the people looking for a dog right now, went to a shelter or rescue instead of a breeder or pet store, we could empty ALL the shelters and rescues tomorrow.

That’s not going to happen for a million good and not-so-good reasons, but there is something that everyone who is planning to get their next family member from a shelter or rescue could do that would go a long way towards saving more dogs.

They could choose to adopt an older dog who is harder to place. A dog like the ones I got SOS pleas about this week – both older pit bull type dogs who need to be only dogs. Or Gracie Lou, who is five and a bulldog mix.

Her five years have been hard ones—as evidenced by the scars on her body and the stiffness in her joints. But her heart is still young—and so full of love. She’s just waiting for someone to take a chance on her.

Some dogs are easier than others to take a chance on. We fostered Argus for five months before he finally found an adopter. And he hasn’t been an easy dog to take home. His incredibly dedicated and patient adopters have worked with him. It’s been two months, Argus loves his new fursibling and his new mom, but he still runs from his new dad. He’s getting better in tiny increments, but they are committed and love Argus.

Here’s the message I got from his new mom yesterday (Vivian is his new fursibling):

“Argus is in love with Vivian & vice versa. He is still warming up to Dan. Seems to be okay with him on the couch, in bed, or on walks; but if Dan is standing in the doorway, he still runs away. We’ll keep working with him.”

And Argus is lucky. He could have been like Roo, a dog I heard about this week who has been in a shelter in Maryland for over a year, or Gracie Lou who has lingered in rescue for even longer. Or the long list of dogs I see on the SOS list from Memphis every week who will be euthanized on Saturday without a rescue or adopter. (I’m not sharing those pictures here because they will haunt you as they surely do me, but you can look them up on Critical Memphis Animals on Facebook if you’re interested.)

There’s nothing inherently wrong with these dogs, except that they aren’t young and dog-friendly and small and long-haired or pointy-nosed (although many of the Memphis dogs are those things).

I love hearing the story of the people who walk into a shelter and say, “I want to adopt the dog (or cat) who has been here the longest.”

But that story is so rare.

Still, I wish it for Gracie Lou, who has been in rescue for 18 months, and prior to that spent her entire life on a chain. The only reason she isn’t still on that chain (or dead) is that the field where she was tied up flooded with the big floods in West Virginia in 2022. Her people left her there and if not for a compassionate stranger who spotted her, she would have drowned.

I think she was rescued for a reason. I think there is someone out there meant for her. Call me crazy, but I do believe in the adoption magic.

I just wish Gracie Lou didn’t have to wait so long for it.

If you’d like to know more about adopting Gracie Lou, reach out to me. I’m happy to chat with you about her.

And if you want to wait along with me and Krimpet for those puppies, be sure to check in on the Another Good Dog Facebook group, where I’m posting PUPPY WATCH updates!

[NOTE: I wrote this post before Krimpet went into labor and delivered her puppies. I’ll tell you about that in another post soon. You can see the babies on the Another Good Dog Facebook group.]

And if you’d like to help the Humane Society with the impending vet bills for Krimpets Heartworm and puppies, visit my fundraiser.

Until Each One Has a Home,

Cara

For information on me, my writing, and books, visit CaraWrites.com.

If you’d like regular updates of all our foster dogs past and present, plus occasional dog care/training tips, and occasional foster cat updates (!) be sure to join the Facebook group, Another Good Dog.

And if you’d like to know where all these dogs come from and how you can help solve the crisis of too many unwanted dogs in our shelters, visit WhoWillLetTheDogsOut.org and subscribe to our blog where we share stories of our travels to shelters, rescues, and dog pounds.

If you can’t get enough foster dog stories, check out my book: Another Good Dog: One Family and Fifty Foster Dogs . Or its follow up that takes you to the shelters in the south One Hundred Dogs & Counting: One Woman, Ten Thousand Miles, and a Journey Into the Heart of Shelters and Rescues.

I love to hear from readers and dog-hearted people! Email me at carasueachterberg@gmail.com.

If you’d like to support the work we do (and save the rescue and me some money), shop our Amazon wishlist.

Many of the pictures on my blog are taken by photographer Nancy Slattery. If you’d like to connect with Nancy to take gorgeous pictures of your pup (or your family), contact: nancyslat@gmail.com.