When we first met Tommy, let’s just say he was a “hot mess.” He was young, energetic, and very stressed in the shelter: all perfect ingredients for a dog to fail in a chaotic and unnatural environment.

When we first met Tommy, let’s just say he was a “hot mess.” He was young, energetic, and very stressed in the shelter: all perfect ingredients for a dog to fail in a chaotic and unnatural environment. His was misunderstood, routinely overlooked, his behavior was quite naughty, and he was in danger of losing his life without intervention. As you may have guessed, we saw this knew he was a prime candidate for our program. With regular outings, training sessions, and lots of enrichment and mental stimulation, he quickly became a favorite with our directors and volunteers. We knew he had gone from the dog no one wanted to one many would and he was adopted. It wasn’t long before we found out things weren’t going well. Tommy’s family had not kept up with our post-adoption offers; instead, he had been left to roam 10 acres with other animals and had reverted somewhat to his inner wild child and the family no longer wanted him. One of our directors drove out to pick him up, another took him in for a little while, and we began the process of reining this guy back in. A short time later, we met Candace and the rest…well, read on. We certainly cannot tell it any better than she did.