Mr. Murphy has a home!
Mr. Murphy, originally my sister’s foster dog but who became a joint project when she moved back east and he stayed in Indiana with me, finally found his furever family and went home this weekend.
He’d been taking his time about the whole process, having had meet-and-greets with a couple of other families before this one, but we were really hoping for that sometimes-elusive “perfect match”… the one where the humans fall head-over-heels in love with the dog, and where the foster mom (or moms, in this case) thinks “Oooh… I like them… I like them a lot!”
[lj-cut text=”details and pictures back here!”]We’d met other people who I liked a lot (and who will make outstanding adopters when they find their perfect Shiba!), but this was the first time we’d hit the magic combination of excellent approved adopters who also just absolutely fell in love with Murphy.
We got together for the first time last weekend, and I opted to do things a little differently this time. Previous meet-and-greets had been at a dog park in West Lafayette, which was a great meeting place but which put Murphy on unfamiliar turf and provided a lot of distractions. This time, to give him the best opportunity to make a good impression, and to have the best controlled environment for him meeting the potential family’s current Shiba, we met at my house.
Granted, that’s not always an available option (due to needing to meet people partway if they’re travelling, etc.) but I really think it worked in Murphy’s favor this time (it helped that the potential adopters were local, so I wasn’t having to meet them part-way). He and Lola (their year-old female Shiba) hit it off immediately and had a grand time playing, first in the house and then out in the yard. I put the big boys in their crates for the duration since they can be a little, well, overwhelming when there are newcomers.
The initial meeting went really well and they spent about an hour hanging out and getting to know Murphy. By the end of the visit, he was making overtures to both of them (after a bit of typical Shiba wariness of the strangers) and I was convinced that I could be happy sending our boy to live with them. (If you haven’t fostered and you’re consider doing so, make sure you’re working with a rescue who gives the foster a lot of input into the final decision… at that point, you’ll know the dog better than anybody else in the rescue!)
Wednesday was their home visit, and they were so excited about Murphy that I think they’d’ve picked him up on Thursday if we could have materialized all the necessary paperwork that quickly! Instead, we settled on Friday after work, so I could get paperwork printed up and get all Murphy’s stuff together, and so I’d have one last night to get myself ready to let him leave. (Naturally, the little rat chose that night to hop up on the bed and sleep with his head on my ankles… he’d never slept with me before, and I’m convinced that he knew something was up!)
Then it was Friday, and it was time for me to get ready to let the little guy go. I picked up a bag of the Evo Red Meat that he’s been eating, and gathered up his favorite toys, then we headed out into the yard for a few last pictures.
lying in the grass
Murphy in the sun
Murphy... all grown up
He was content to just hang out, and didn’t seem too interested in romping with the big boys, so we headed back in the house to wait for Allie and Richard.
smiling dog
And then they were here! Murphy couldn’t decide whether to bark at the front door or to run back into the living room and look out the window. I caught him and let them in the house and after a few minutes of visiting, we settled in to do all the adoption paperwork. With the formalities out of the way, we got him “dressed” in his new finery… a red IU harness and a blue collar and Colts leash, and then I got a few pictures of the happy family.
Murphy and new family
Murphy and Richard
Murphy relaxing
Awww... they look so happy together!
Murphy takes his leave
G'bye, Mr. Murphy!
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As much as I miss the little guy, I’m thrilled that he finally has the perfect family of his own. He’s got a Shiba playmate who’s just a few months younger than him, and people who love him and want the best for him. He’s settling in nicely and looks happy and relaxed in the pictures from his first night in his new home.
This entry was posted on Monday, July 27th, 2009 at 11:45 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.