It's funny the twists and turns life can take.<\/p>\n
Not that long ago, in this very space I mused that I wasn't ready for another dog and didn't know if I ever would be. <\/p>\n
It was just April 25 when we had to say goodbye to Lady MacBeth (a.k.a. The Bug), my faithful companion of 11 years.<\/p>\n
Sometimes the grief still comes back as visceral as it was in the moment.<\/p>\n
Then, on August 12, Quinn Bender, our Kitimat Northern Sentinel reporter, submitted to me the story of Cocoa the wonder dog. As I edited that story, Cocoa's plight spoke to me.<\/p>\n
Cocoa spent several days tangled in a running line after a fire near his home in an unspecified community. His leg was so injured and infected, vets had scheduled an amputation. <\/p>\n
But miraculously, Cocoa started to heal. And, by all reports, he was the happiest-go-lucky, most good-natured, friendliest, gentlest pup you would ever want to meet.<\/p>\n
I looked at the pictures and those spoke to me as well. Could this be my new dog?<\/p>\n
I still didn't know if I was ready, but I figured the story would generate a ton of interest from people wanting to adopt him, so I put in my application just in case and resolved, at the very least, to go visit him at the Kitimat Humane Society.<\/p>\n
We went as a family and spent some time with him away from the shelter. Cocoa lived up to his advance billing. This is one chill dog.<\/p>\n
The KHS, estimated he wouldn't be ready for adoption for about six weeks, so we decided to leave him until then before making a final decision and completing the adoption.<\/p>\n
Then we found out, though, that because dogs tend to do better in a home than in a shelter, we could foster him until he was ready for adoption.<\/p>\n
Long story short, Cocoa is now a resident of Prince Rupert.<\/p>\n
Luckily, I've also spent the last few months editing Joe Griffith's Wags and Whiskers column, from which we picked up a ton of great tips for making a new dog feel safe and comfortable in a new home.<\/p>\n
That, combined with Cocoa's natural personality, made the transition way smoother than I ever imagined possible. <\/p>\n
He has settled into the family as if he had always been a member.<\/p>\n
We will be completing the adoption when he is healed.<\/p>\n
The only thing is, I don't think he is my new dog. I heard somewhere that dogs pick their owners as much as owners pick their dogs.<\/p>\n
This puppy definitely belongs to the 12-year-old in the household (and vice versa).<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Three weeks ago Thom didn’t know if he would ever be ready for another dog, now he has one<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":130,"featured_media":134433,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-134428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-columnists","category-opinion"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n