Our vet, Dr. Joe, told Mike and I that we should seriously look at getting another dog. We disagreed, believing that since Bailey had always been an “only” dog, it would be unfair to her to bring another one in to “replace” her before she was even gone.
Dr. Joe went on to say that he knew Mike and I would eventually get another dog, and to be fair to the new dog and ourselves, we should get one BEFORE Bailey passed away. That way the new one would have time to earn its way into our home and hearts. If we waited, we would always compare the new dog to Bailey and we all KNEW no one could ever replace that wonderful dog. Also, since it had been 14 years since we’d had a younger dog, it would be very easy to “idealize” Bailey and only remember her “perfect” years – making the new pup seem “not so good.”
Dr. Joe went on to say that when Bailey did pass away, the new dog would be there to comfort us. Not to mention the fact that, in a way, we had done Bailey an injustice because dogs are considered to be pack animals and usually do better when there’s more than one. What Dr. Joe said made sense but we just couldn’t see ourselves actively searching for another dog.
A couple of weeks after this conversation, Mike and I stopped by PetsMart in Stafford, TX to pick up some cat food. The “Adopt-A-Cat” group was there that day. I always like to look at the kitties looking for homes, play with them a while, and then make a donation!
Before we even got to the cat area, we saw a gorgeous hunk of a dog wearing a green bandana. We then heard a voice say, “I think he wants to go home with you.”
We both looked up to see a tall, attractive blonde woman smiling at us, and pointing to the dog.
Although almost spellbound by the dog, we managed to explain our situation to her and then she shared her story about how she had found the dog.
She had seen this handsome dog and a little beagle running in an open field near a busy intersection in Houston, TX.
Since she sometimes did work with the “Adopt-the-Cat” group, she knew if she could rescue them, she could take them there for shelter. The beagle proved to be easy to rescue, but the big dog kept resisting. She delivered the beagle to the "Adopt-A-Cat" folks, who encouraged her to go back for the other one.
It took her several tries, even using a hamburger as bait. She finally managed to corral the dog, walked him by his hind legs to her car, and drove him to the shelter. When they arrived at the shelter, the dog saw his "beagle buddy," jumped out of the front seat, and ran to be by her side. The "Adopt-A-Cat" folks named the duo “Bonnie and Clyde.”
Unfortunately, the beagle was an older dog with heartworms and did not survive the treatment. The woman, however, was still as determined as ever to find Clyde a new home.
Clyde’s rescuer/caretaker took him to PetsMart “Adoption Day” nearly every weekend for 4 months. The shelter/facility provided Clyde a place to live in one of their kennels but the owner was planning to move to California.
His caretaker had two big dogs of her own so she did not have room for another. If she had to move Clyde to a different animal shelter, she could only hope that he would someday find a home. Fortunately, Clyde found a home with us!
The first thing we did was change his name to Spencer (which he greatly appreciated), then we took him to Dr. Joe for to a pre-adoption examination. After a brief meeting and once-over, Dr. Joe proclaimed that Spencer was going to be a GREAT dog! He also told Spencer (in confidence) that he had just won the lottery. <grin> | 
