October 25th, 2013
Sweet Caroline Finds Her Forever Home: A Rescue Story By Linda Bordas
After the death of my yellow lab, Otis, I couldn't stop feeling like something was missing in my life. I started looking for another lab to help fill the void. My son Ben's chocolate English lab, Stubby, had died a couple of years before Otis died and he was also suffering from "lab loss". You see, once you've had a lab you become addicted and have to have your lab fix. Ben asked if I would consider getting an English chocolate lab like Stubby. And so my quest began.
I regularly checked lab rescue sites on the internet and asked my dear friend Barb Scanlon at the Marshall County Animal Rescue League to be on the lookout. Every time I located a rescue dog that was what I was looking for I was too late. You see, every rescue organization has its own application . By the time they call your references, talk to your vet and sometimes do a home study someone else would have been approved and gotten that dog. My disappointment was growing and I started to feel like a bad parent. Maybe this was harder than fostering a child. I then started contacting breeders to see if they had any adult dogs they were retiring or weren't suitable for breeding.
My search of the states east of the Mississippi turned up no leads. I finally told my husband that I was giving up the search, that It must not be the right time and that when it was the right time my dog would find me. Fast forward six months. Corey Pietranton and I flew to High Point, North Carolina, to buy furniture and fabrics for the law office the firm is opening in Moundsville. At the end of one of the days there I returned a message from a breeder who I had spoken to last spring. She had an English chocolate lab that she was retiring from her breeding program. She lived in North Carolina less than an hour and a half from High Point.
Corey hates to fly so she was all for driving home. I showed up at the breeder's with a collar, leash, 2 bowls, treats and a jug of water, I hadn't met her yet, but I knew my dog had found me. Her name was Caroline. She rode most of the way home with all 68 pounds of her in my lap. I got more kisses than I had gotten on those early dates with my husband. When we stopped at a travel plaza for a quick dinner Corey was in the bathroom with the right side of her face lathered up like she was going to shave. She's not a dog person and every now and then Caroline would lean over and slurp the right side of her face. She refused to let me drive for fear Caroline would be in her lap.
The next day my husband came back from a trip to Oglebay Park with Caroline and told me that I had hit the jackpot and found a dog that was sweet, obedient and was fun. That afternoon as I watched her play football and swim with my grandson and his friend I thanked God that I had been patient enough to wait for Caroline. She quickly made everyone at the office feel like she loved them best. She likes to spend a lot of time with Corey. She is determined to turn her into a dog person. Sometimes we pray for things to happen and are disappointed when they don't. God does work in mysterious ways. He has a plan. So keep praying for what you want. After all, my dog found me!