News from the Cuddle Shuttle

Today, I took Seamus to the Cuddle Shuttle, the shelter's eye-catching mobile adoption unit. The shelter's capacity is stretched to the max right now, so adoption fees were reduced to $25. The glass windows house cats, and the dogs hung out on the sidewalk, ready for passersby to hopefully fall in love.

And what's not to love about this handsome face?!!! Seamus got a lot of interest, but the morning brought no serious applicants.

I took Seamus home for an hour to give him a break, then brought him back for the final hour of the adoption event. To keep him comfortable, I took Cabana's car couch out for him to relax in. The very first time we brought him home in the car, he was a panting, nervous mess--but after he realized car rides lead to good things (nice home, green grass, dogs to play with), he got a lot better. And I think Cabana's comfy car couch helped a lot, too, both physically and mentally.

During that last hour, a woman stopped on her way into the grocery store and showed great interest in Seamus. She took a picture of him with her phone and sent it to her husband. He called back immediately and said he would come over, bringing their 7-year old twin daughters to meet Seamus, too. They all fell in love with him and adopted him on the spot.

The woman is a stay-at-home mom, and the dad works from home two days a week and will run with Seamus every morning. The kids were very gentle and used to dogs, since their golden retriever died just several months ago. Best of all for me, they live in town, will let me puppysit when they go on vacation, and meet for park playdates with Cabana. They also plan to come back to the shelter for a few basic obedience sessions, so I'll definitely get to see him again.

Here's a photo of them all, disguised to protect their privacy--but I think you can still tell what a cute family they are!

I lent them Cabana's car couch so Seamus could lay in it for the ride to his new home. They have already emailed me with an update, saying he is doing really well, settling in nicely, and that they plan to buy a dog bed just like Cabana's. They sent me this photo of him. It gives me so much comfort to see him laying in Cabana's car couch--it's the perfect transitional love object for him. And the perfect new family.

Seamus' new name is Buster, named after some baseball guy, Buster Posey. Better Buster than Posey, I say.

It's a happy ending...and a happier beginning.