All good stories start with “Once Upon A Time”, so, here we go.
Once Upon A Time there was a little dog living on the streets of a town near the great city of Atlanta. She did not have a safe place to live, and she did not have a name. One day when she was least expecting it a kind person found her outdoors and all alone. That person scooped her up and brought her to nice safe place. And that is where her adventure begins.
This little dog was taken to a veterinary clinic and was examined by doctors and technicians. They checked her heart and lungs, tested her blood, and made sure her temperature was OK. Then they gave her some vaccinations, so she did not get sick in the future. The little dog didn’t particularly like the vaccinations because she was poked with a needle. Still, there was something about those doctors and technicians that gave her confidence, so she wasn’t too worried.
While all this was going on at the clinic the medical professionals were considering a name for the dog. They all agreed that she was very cute, and cute dogs need cute names. After a log of discussion, they decided to call her “Annaleigh”. When they tried out the little dog’s new name, Annaleigh, she gave them a bit of a nod and a dog-smile. The people in the veterinary clinic concluded that Annaleigh would be a very happy dog and that she seemed to like her new name.
In fact, Annaleigh was an extremely happy dog. She did not have a “real” home, but she lived at the clinic for several weeks. In fact, it turns out that she just about took over the clinic. Annaleigh was very popular and greeted the staff every day and made sure that the whole place was running smoothly. She became the official “vet dog” and spent a lot of time in the main office.
Still, Annaleigh did not have a real home to go to, and the veterinarians and staff decided that the little friendly dog needed a family to call her own. How could a they find her a home?
One day there was a big surprise at the clinic. Representatives of a rescue group came in and said they were organizing a big group of dogs who would travel up north to New York State. It seems that people in New York State were willing to welcome homeless dogs and make them part of their families. This sounded like a perfect opportunity for Annaleigh to find what they called her “Forever Home”.
When the big day for travel came, Annaleigh was put into a special dog carrier. She didn’t like that because she was used to wandering around the clinic office. Then the carrier, with Annaleigh inside, was put into a big van with a bunch of other dogs who were also in carriers.
Off they all went, dogs, people, van, and all.
Every few hours the van pulled into a safe spot and all the dogs were brought out of the van and removed from their carriers. They were all able to stretch their legs and walk around and do the things that dogs like to do when they get to a new place. Annaleigh started to look forward to these stops because they were fun!
Two whole days went by and the dogs traveled north many, many miles. As you might guess, they didn’t know they were traveling north, but they sure knew they were going somewhere. It must be pretty good, this place they were heading to, because as they got closer the people in the van got more excited and kept talking to the dogs. They were saying something that, to the dogs, sounded like, “Woochie, moochie, oppaa, maana, albanynewyork.”
Annaleigh thought those people were pretty funny.
After a particularly long day of travel, van pulled off the freeway. Annaleigh could see that they were now in an area that had a lot of trees, but it was getting dark and it was getting hard to make out the details.
After a little bit the van stopped, and the people opened the doors. All the dogs were carried out of the van and when the doors to their carriers opened, they discovered that they were in a big backyard. Annaleigh was thrilled to discover that she could run around again and play with her dog-friends from the van.
Annaleigh noticed that there was a new bunch of people in the backyard in addition to the ones from the van. One by one the dogs were greeted by one of the people and each pair, person and dog, were led into the house. Annaleigh thought it was all very suspicious. What she did not know is that the people had all agreed to be foster parents to the dogs, and each one of Annaleigh’s traveling companions was going to a safe place to live until they could find forever homes.
After a little while there was only one dog left in the backyard. That was Annaleigh. Why was she left alone? Why was she last? Annaleigh began to get worried again.
What Annaleigh did not know was that she was about to have a fabulous surprise.
When Annaleigh was living in the veterinary clinic many miles to the south of where she was now, two people had seen her picture on a Web site and decided that the little dog might be the perfect addition to their family. The man and woman of that family agreed that the little dog from near Atlanta would be very welcome in the place that is called “Upstate New York”. That is why Annaleigh traveled all that way in the van.
The big surprise is that the man was inside the house waiting for Annaleigh to come in.
A person from the house opened the door and signaled Annaleigh to come in. Come in? Oh, boy! And Annaleigh ran up the stairs and into the house. The person who opened the door made sure that the little dog looked perfect and opened the kitchen door that led to the rest of the house, and Annaleigh dashed forward to see what was going on.
When she got to the living room, she saw the man who wanted to take her home. He sure looked friendly, which is exactly what he thought about Annaleigh! Annaleigh ran across the room and jumped into his arms. Instantly they decided that they would be great pals.
The man used his cell phone and called his wife and told her that Annaleigh was a perfect little dog and they were heading home in minutes. Annaleigh thought he said something like, “Macawaca dogga playa home.” But that was good enough. Those humans really talk funny.
Annaleigh went to her forever home that very night and discovered that she was going to be welcomed with hugs and kisses. Suddenly, she had two new beds of her very own, great food, squirrels to chase, and a cat with to play with, too. Within a day or two she met the other dogs in the neighborhood, and they became her new friends. She went to their houses for fun, and they came to hers.
Yes, for Annaleigh it all turned out very good, and Annaleigh was glad that she rode in the van all the way to Upstate New York.
I am sure you know that all good stories end with, “… lived happily ever after”. Well, this is a very good story, and Annaleigh lived happily ever after.
At that’s how Annaleigh found a home.
