Adoption Stories

Touchdown’s Story….

A little over nine years ago, my new wife and I made a trip to the PetsMart on Scottsdale Rd.  As we walked to aisles, with no intentions of become dog owner’s, we met a young puppy named Sasha.  She was a beautiful Shepard mix with an angels face and a spotted tongue.  The volunteer let us “take her for a stroll in the store” and soon enough we were signing adoption papers and having a Polaroid picture taken of the three of us.  That afternoon Shasha became Touchdown and she accompanied us home.  I can still remember the first night at the apartment listening to here muffled cries as she tried to get accustomed to here new surroundings.  Soon she was playing with a bunch of new puppy friends at the dog park and laying next to me as we watched football on Sundays.  Shortly after we got her, she started to limp and we took her to the vet at Petsmart,  we soon learned about valley fever.  We were devastated, but the vet prescribed a medicinal treatment and soon she was bounding around the dog park with her puppy like vigor.  Naturally we decided her birthday would coincide with the Super Bowl (since her actual birthday was a mystery).  For her first birthday we returned to Petsmart and walked out with her new sidekick Fumble (a cattle dog mix originally named Mike).  The two became inseparable.  Soon our daughter was born and Touchdown became a “big sister”, to a little noise maker.  We ended up moving from Phoenix to Iowa, where our new vet became Eastern Iowa’s newest expert on valley fever.  Touchdown was introduced to snow, ice and cold, plus our son.  We soon left Iowa for Georgia and our new vet became South East Georgia’s resident expert on valley fever.  For those few years, she would be taking all kinds of “-zoles” but she beat “the fever”.  The whole time our “puppy” would follow the children around, barked at anything that was near the house and kept a close eye on her Fumble.  Touchdown actually suffered a torn ACL while in Georgia and ended up going to a vet specializing in sports medicine for dogs and soon she was rehabbing in the swimming pool and then back to policing the house and neighborhood.  We eventually left Georgia and ended up in Washington DC.  Touchdown soon became accustomed to different surroundings and the new neighborhood.  She would regularly come outside with the kids and lay down and keep a watchful eye on them while they played.  She would also come down to the bus stop to see the kids off to school and be there when they returned home.  Her and her brother Fumble would stare out the windows and bark at people walking on the path or the stray leaf.  She had a knack for coming close to you and “nudging” you to pet her and if you stopped she would paw at you until you started petting her again.  Over the last few months, Touchdown started to show signs of aging.  After a recent trip to the vet, she was diagnosed with a degeneration of the spine.  She was on some medications to alleviate the pain, but her condition got the best of her.  On Monday we had to make the toughest decision of our lives.  Touchdown was soon free from pain and is now waiting by the rainbow bridge.  My wife and I have looked back on that day in 2002 when we met her.  We are so thankful for the good people at Foothills involved with the rescue of both her and Fumble.  Her health problems throughout the years provided challenges we needed to overcome, but the love that she gave us, whether it was he gentle kisses or her pawing me to “pet me again daddy”, was worth everything.  It’s been difficult for us, Fumble still stares out the window waiting for her to come home, but the dogs we adopted from Foothills have been a great joy in our families life.
Thank you for the work your organization does.  Eventually when we are ready, we will definitely be rescuing another dog.
I’ve included a picture from a few years ago of Touchdown to share, as you can see she was a beautiful dog.
Once again Thank you, the work you do to save these animals and provide loving homes for them is invaluable and much appreciated.

Michael Bauer and the Bauer Family.

Touchdown and Fumble

FRITO BANDITO

Lucy and Gerry Zimmerman have been cat fosters at F.A.R. for years.  After a brief hiatus, they discovered that one of the four young Feline Leukemia positive cats they had fostered in the Spring of 2009 while F.A.R. was looking for a new home, was still there.   The FRITO BANDITO had been their favorite and they were saddened that he still hadn’t found a home so they  decided to foster him again in May of 2011.   With many trips scheduled to break up the hot Arizona Summer, Frito found himself been shuttled back and forth several times until the Zimmermans made their final trip of 2011 down to Rocky Point at Thanksgiving.  They found they missed him as much as he obviously missed them, so they formally adopted this fuzzy bundle of joy with the unique “Zorro Mask” upon their return and it immediately began to pay dividends.  

Gerry went through knee replacement surgery on December 6th and upon coming home from the hospital was dealing with the pain and found that, because their master BR king sized bed was too high, he and Lucy had to move to a guest BR with two queens that were lower and easier to get in and out of.   Lucy stubbed her toe and tripped and fell on Monday the 12th and had to be treated for a cut and some bruises so the two of them were a pathetic duo for the holiday season.   However, they discovered that the FRITO BANDITO was up to the task of providing soothing comfort and he worked hard to spend time next to both of them, not only during the day, but at night in their beds and it helped ease the pain as much as any pill.  He is a very good boy and most appreciative and has brought joy to us during this otherwise dull Christmas season.  He’s on my desk as I write this and I would encourage anyone who is looking for a real friend, they should go to F.A.R.

Merry Christmas to all the wonderful dedicated folks at F.A.R. for your role in giving us the Best Christmas gift this year.