A Meeting with James and Family

This evening Mabel had an appointment at Greece PetCo to meet James.  He is a wonderful gentleman from Brockport who is interested in adopting her.

I learned that James and both of his daughters have allergies, so they need to have multiple meetings with Mabel to be sure that no one has a negative reaction.  This is great planning on their part, I feel.  It would be horrible for Mabel, or any pet, to find a home, and then have to leave it because her new family was allergic to her fur.

James recognized Mabel as soon as we arrived, and introduced himself to me, and told me about his situation.  He was very thorough in some questions that he had about Mabel, as far as how she reacted in different situations, her bathroom habits, her health, and especially her reaction to children.  I told him everything I could, and even explained how she does act differently toward new dogs depending on whether she is with our puppy Twister.  Mabel is very protective of Twister, almost as if she is his mother. :)

One of the questions James asked was about Mabel's leash training.  I explained to him that she does pull, and I showed him the trick that Jenn taught me by slipping the leash between her legs, and running it back along her belly.  Mabel is not at all bothered by carrying the leash this way, and she walks beautifully.  He and his daughters took Mabel walking around the store, while I shopped, in order to get an idea of how she listened and acted, and also to expose the girls to Mabel and see if they had any allergic reactions.

After about 1/2 hour, I think they were hooked!  With the leash trick, the oldest daughter (I think she's 7)was able to walk Mabel without being tugged, and was able to stop Mabel from walking into the Pitty Love group, which was full of dogs meeting prospective adopters.

James said that he would contact Jenn on Monday or Tuesday, to let her know how everyone's allergies handled the visit, and to probably take the next step, which I believe is a home visit.

I am so excited for Mabel, but I am also sad.  I want her to have her forever home, so that she can settle in and know that she never has to move again, but I will miss her terribly if/when she leaves.  And I know that Twister will too.  When we got home tonight, all he wanted to do was be next to her. They have been cuddling and following each other around for the last 45 minutes.