The Cleo Award* was recently established in honor of a special pet
and for everyone that works to save animals everyday. The story
begins with a special Rottweiler named Cleo that was adopted from
Homeward Bound many years ago. The "Cleo Award" was founded in
memory of Cleo. The first pet recipient of this special award is
"Ranger" from the Thomas family in the City of Arlington, Texas.
RANGER'S STORY
Hello!
Back in July, just one month shy of turning 16, we had to put our
beloved dog, Dusty, to sleep. It was the most difficult decision we
have ever had to make and one we never wanted to have to do again.
We swore on that day that we would never get another dog but our
kids said different. We have two boys ages 13 and 8. They lived
their entire lives with a dog and never knew anything different. The
day we said goodbye to Dusty, they asked if we could get another
dog. Every day after that, they asked if we could get another dog
and we kept saying no.
Well, after about two months, I was missing the loving greetings
Dusty would give us at the door, so I started talking to my husband
about adopting another dog. He was not ready at all and was
insistent on not ever getting another dog.
One month later, he woke up and said we could start looking online
for another dog. He realized it was not fair to us not to get
another dog for the family. We talked a lot about the kind of dog we
wanted, and what we knew was important was a dog that would be great
with our boys! We spent that Sunday morning looking online for hours
for a dog that looked like would be a good match for us. We emailed
a lot of foster families but did follow up on any one of them.
A week later, I had been looking online and found a dog I was
interested in looking at so I went to the Arlington Animal Shelter
and to take a look. I took my friend that was a dog trainer with me
so I would have some help knowing if the dog would be a good match
for my boys. We looked at a lot of dogs and took the one dog I saw
online out of the kennel and walked around with it. The dog showed
no interest in me or my friend and it did not feel like a good match
to me either. We continued to look and the other dogs. Some were
barkers, which we did not want, some ran away and hid. Then we came
to this giant dog. He tried so hard to get as close to me as he
could thru the fence. He never barked, never jumped but he was HUGE!
On his papers, it said GREAT DANE and that made me nervous so I kept
walking. I thought, he is just too big. So I left that day without a
dog and feeling very sad for all those dogs who may or may not ever
get adopted!
I came home and told my husband about my visit and told him about
the gigantic dog. That night, I dreamt about him and the next day,
could not stop thinking about him. I pulled his picture up online
and told my friends about him. I decided to go back that afternoon
and take him out of the kennel and see what he would do with me. I
took another friend with me. Ranger was so excited to see us and get
out of his cage. We took him into the fenced area. At first, he
jumped around looking at the other dogs. He sniffed at us and chased
a ball and still no barking. As soon as I sat down on the bench, he
came over to me and leaned against me like he was already mine. I
fell in love with him that instant. So in a way, he picked us.
The pictures I have attached are of Ranger meeting our kids for the
first time. He is a very loving, sweet dog. We prayed about this and
even asked Dusty, our first member of our family, for help in making
sure the new dog we got would be a good match for the boys. Our
prayers were answered!
Thank you for the opportunity to share our story.
The Thomas Family
*As the winner of the Cleo Award, Ranger will receive 10 pounds
of Nutri-Vet treats and the City of Arlington Animal Services
received 80 pounds of dog food from Nature's Select Pet Food of Fort
Worth, Texas.
