Gracie's found a furever home...

I'm sure this won't be earth-shattering news to most of you...we have decided to keep Gracie. I think I knew from the moment I laid eyes on her broken body in Buffalo, Texas, that God sent this tiny girl to us. We always hear that God works in mysterious ways and Gracie is no exception. I would not have sought to own a blind Weim or felt that we were prepared or qualified to own one. But apparently God thought differently and dropped Gracie right in our lap. When I saw the email with her sad little picture stating she was in the shelter needing picked up, something clicked. The emails went on and it was said that we shouldn't take her unless we had a foster home for her due to her blindness and medical condition. A short discussion with David later and I was replying that if someone could pull her and keep her for a night or two that we would be willing to foster her. Things kept falling into place...another volunteer could pick her up and keep her for a couple nights, our rescue president was able to meet that volunteer and drive Gracie to a midway point between Dallas and Houston. And all of this was on the 4th of July weekend! I just love how our rescue works so well together.


I spent most of that night at work online researching blind dogs. I had a long list of things to do and ideas on training. Little did I know that it would be many weeks before her blindness would even be an issue. First and foremost, she was gravely ill. She had much to overcome but she was a fighter. I remember thinking that first day of having her home, "What have we gotten ourselves into?" But, there really wasn't time for that kind of thinking. As a family, we set about the business of healing Gracie. And heal she did. She has grown strong, stubborn and sassy...just the way we like Weims!


As she became stronger, I began to think, "what next?" Obviously, the goal of any successful fostering is to get the dog adopted. I know there are homes out there that would be more than qualified (maybe more so than us) to love and care for Gracie. But to think of that would bring tears to my eyes. I just kept imagining that moment of someone actually walking out of our home and taking Gracie with them. This just did not sit well with me. She has our house, backyard and family all mapped out in her head. She knows what the pantry and refrigerator doors sound like when opened and that it means there is food available for the taking. She knows that Miley will tolerate her bumping into her and biting more than Maggie will. She knows that my girls, even though they dress her in clothes occasionally, love her to death and would never be rough with her or hurt her. She knows that we will feed her, take care of her needs and love her unconditionally.

So, I guess the title of this post is wrong. Gracie hasn't just now found her home. She found it on July 3rd when she stole our hearts.

I will definitely continue this blog so please keep coming back! We won't officially adopt her until all of her medical care is completed. Plus, there will be plenty to learn and talk about as she grows and we begin our training of a blind dog. And, as with any Weimaraner, there will always be funny stories to share. This isn't the end...it's another beginning. Even though we won't be able to foster anymore (I think 3 Weims are enough for our home), we will be making Gracie 'earn her keep' as an ambassa-dog for WRNT. She will attend Meet & Greets and events to show what our rescue can accomplish with the help of volunteers and donors. That's the up-side of this. Had she been adopted by a family outside of the rescue, she wouldn't be attending all the WRNT events and you would never see her. This way, you will have more opportunities to see her in the coming months and years and watch her grow.
Like I said...this is the beginning of a new chapter. One filled with promise!