Took a risk...so much anxiety...might be turning out

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Nicolelt

The Handler
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I really just need to vent this, it's kinda a good thing, but made me reeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaalllll anxious. Sorry for the novel.

For those who do not know, I am a dog breeder. I am very protective of my reputation, because honestly this is why I live. (Yep, this is my monster, I live for these skinny four-legged animals) Anyways, in my breed, whippets, we have a very good rescue program for if someone needs to surrender a dog, or if one is found in a shelter. It's a fairly rare breed here, so finding them in a shelter is not common. 

Anyways, I was scrolling through Facebook last week and this dog was posted on the local shelter's page that this dog was found. When I saw the picture, I thought to myself, that looks like a whippet. I commented on the picture, "Is she a whippet?" and had no answer. I didn't think a thing about it anymore.

On Friday it was the first of our teacher workdays, and a student came in to see me and the other agriculture teacher that just so happens to work at the animal shelter. I asked her if anyone came and picked up the dog I commented on. She said no, and showed me a picture of the dog in it's kennel. From that picture too, she looked like a whippet. I asked her what does it take to foster a dog from the shelter, because if she was in fact a whippet, I wanted to help get her placed through our rescue program. It would be easy because in the whole US right now there are only 4 whippets up for adoption, and tons of applicants.

My student said, don't worry I got you, come to the shelter. So after work I went to the shelter and my student made it so I could take the dog home. (She is an awesome kid  :) ) Before I left for the shelter I had contacted the rescue group on facebook saying there was a whippet in the shelter, what did I need to do.

When I got to the shelter, I kinda thought, ehhhh, maybe she is not, but took her home with me anyways. The rescue group contacted me back and asked what shelter, which I replied with I'm not really sure if she is, and sent pictures. The group (which actually was one lady that I was talking to) said that she looks more like a whippet than they normally get. This made me feel like I was actually doing a good thing. The lady called me and we talked. I emailed more pictures to her and the regional advisor of the rescue group after talk to her that night, and waited.

I kept going back and forth, she is, she isn't, and ultimately decided in my mind that the rescue was not going to be able to help her. The part that made me anxious was, I kinda felt like an idiot because of my uncertainty. I mean that past 15 years of my life, I have been showing these dogs and I can't pick one out of a shelter with complete confidence? Or know that one was one or not? I did research all weekend at different lines of whippets to try to determine an answer.

Tonight I got the call from the rescue group. They gave her a number, meeting she will be entered in the books as a rescue whippet. It still has to go through regional advisor who 90% of the time will say they are not whippets, but at least one person on the rescue team as of now thinks she is. And even if, she does not go through as a whippet, the rescue is going to put her on the website as a courtesy dog, and people can apply for her. The lady also said since we have no whippets available in the rescue here, she will send me applications of people that may want a mix. So even if I am wrong about her being a whippet, I can still place her myself, instead of taking her back to the shelter after fostering! That is actually what I want. She is a really cool dog, and I want to be the one that find her family. So I think this is going to turn out to be a good thing. She likes being at our house instead of the stinky shelter.

Here is her picture, we are calling her Selma.

 
Aw Nicole, you're pretty AND nice!
That's an awesome thing that you did. I'm sure the doggie is so much happier at your home!
I hope you'll find an awesome owner for her soon!
 
As a dog lover, that's a nice story to read this morning.  

She's a pretty girl!  Dare I say adorable.  (I have a thing for white dogs with black spots.)

Best of luck placing her!  

(Last month, I adopted two Hangin' Tree Cowdog mixes (12 weeks old as of yesterday).......that I might foster, or might keep?  Not sure yet.)
 
Good luck, keep taking care of the dogs ^_^
I see it this way - after all of these years, you've been good enough to (I assume) not often even be unsure about a dog's breed. That's skilled X)
 

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