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Opie rescued me

I had originally applied for a dog named Delilah, but was told they were unsure if she would be coming to Canada. I was watching NDR Instagram stories, and posts on Facebook and Instagram constantly throughout the day waiting to see if there was any update on her or any news on her arrival. 

One day, while looking for updates on Delilah, I saw an Instagram story with that sad sad face on the left with a little blurb about how this traumatized boy called Elf (he’s now called Opie) needed a home after his human was murdered in front of his eyes. My heart broke for him. I knew right away that I needed to do something. I searched his name on the website, nothing. I searched his name on the Facebook page, nothing. I googled, “Niagara dog rescue ELF”, nothing. I went back to the Instagram story and I clicked on it so I could go to the profile that originally posted it. I sent her a personal message basically saying “hey, I can’t find this dude anywhere - help”. Katie, who happened to be one of the foster coordinators sent me all his info, a ton more pictures and my heart just burst. From there, I was hooked. For 4 days Katie put up with all my messages and questions and was so so helpful in helping me adopt him. This all happened August 22 2021, and I picked him up August 26 2021 (national dog day!!)

Opie was bounced around from shelters, to fosters, to failed adopters (1 unfortunately murdered, and another just thought he was the wrong fit), more fosters, and then finally to me. When he got out of the fosters car during the meet, he walked directly passed my mom and right to me. I think he knew too. Since then, we have been side by side, learning about each other and from each other. 

This sad faced boy, has already turned around and is now that smiley boy we see on the right. The picture on the right was only 19 days after being “home”. Seeing the difference and change in him everyday seriously melts my heart and makes me so happy. He finally started giving kisses, and his dance of excitement when I get home from work is my favourite part of the day. He loves to play tug, and loves to rip the stuffing out of toys and then walk around with the unstuffed animal in his mouth. He doesn’t care much for squeakers (woohoo!! lol). He is not a fan of the rain, but he surprisingly quite enjoys wearing his cozy hoodie or rain jacket. Everyday there has been a new thing to learn and I’m loving every second of it. 

Before I adopted Opie, I had a pretty traumatizing year myself. There were a lot of ups and downs and some days were much harder than others. Adopting Opie changed all of that, completely turned it all around. Everyday with him has been overwhelmingly awesome and I couldn’t be happier. I tell people I rescued him, when in reality, he rescued me too. ❤️

Thank you Niagara Dog Rescue for bringing this sweet and amazing boy into my life!