Zander is a 4 1/2 year old Newfoundland ....a rescue from the Heart of America Newfoundland Club....and how he got here is quite interesting....
I had wanted to foster a Newf for a long time....as most of you know, Newfs are like potato chips...you can't have just one.
In March 2005 HANC posted a Club -wide "cattle call"....they had gotten in some Newfs and desperately needed foster homes. OK, I can do this...after all I had fostered Golden Retrievers before and while I always cried when they left to go to their Forever Homes...I got over it and looked forward to the next arrival....
I e-mailed Marty Swindell telling of my desire to help out and included a list of my current dogs and what their individual personalities were and asked if HANC had a foster which would match up with my dogs and my lifestyle...especially since I do work outside the home. I figured that although I'd had Mollie for several years, my experience in the breed was very limited and I had never had multiple Newfs before that, it was best to leave the selection of my new foster child up to the experts.
Those of you who know ( and love me ) know that I am very petite and rather ....slim....so any dog had to be one that I could safely handle...especially given that at any time these dogs could outweigh me by several stones.
Marty believed that Zander was the dog best suited for me; arrangements were made for his evaluation and neutering and a tentative date set for me to pick him up.
Actually getting Zander here was a challenge....he had had some complications from his neuter and had had to stay several days at the vet so I could not get him until his incision was fully healed...and by that time I was chomping at the bit....after all, I had already made the excited post to Newf-L telling EVERYONE that I was....expecting. Jokester that I am.....I got some very good laughs when I explained that I certainly was NOT preggers....I was getting another Newf.
Then the day before I was to pick him up, he escaped from the fenced yard and a massive search was undertaken to find this poor dog. Members found him cold and scared and trembling in a wooded copse near the lady's home...and he was taken back , given a good meal and bathed and groomed in anticipation of his new start in life.
I met Sylvia Steffen near Springfield MO the next day ( May 1st ) to get my new ...ahem...foster dog....little did I know.....
Now, I have always been a sucker for Rescue dogs.....and big, brown eyes as well....and when I first saw Zander sitting in a crate in Sylvia's van....my heart just went to mush....here was the saddest Newfoundland I had ever seen in my life....head hanging low...not really wanting to interact with anyone....just plain scared.
After a short visit with Sylvia and Jean and Matt Cobban....also had to view and admire their litter of Newf puppies, I unloaded Zander from Sylvia's van....put him into mine and we were on our way home.....
More to follow.......
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