There are times when walking dogs at the Shelter that a certain dog comes along that pulls your heart strings. For me that comes often. I wrote about Hinkley in my last blog and she is my current heart string puller but there’s another little man (actually he’s an 81 pound Pitbull mix) that came along the first week in July. His name is Patron.

When I first met Patron, he was a grumpy, old man. He would come out of his kennel and we would head out for our walk and he would just stop and refuse to move. I would let him stay for a few and then give him a little tug and get him to move a few more feet. He wanted to be in charge and he just seemed mad to me.

I took him out to the kennel yard to try and get acquainted a little but he was so indifferent to me. It was almost like he was doing me a favor by allowing me to pet him. As I was stroking his head, I started praying he would find a special home with special people who would love him and make his last days more special then his first. And of course the tears started flowing. I just thought how unfair it was that a 10 year dog who was accustomed to living in a home was now possibly spending his last years in a shelter.

When I took him back inside the shelter, he reluctantly walked in with me and planted his bottom in the doorway. I had to get help from a staff person to get him to his kennel and get him back in. He just broke my heart.

I took out again another time he was a much more compliant boy but still didn’t want go back into the building. I had to have a little help this time but once we got through the door he actually moved a little quicker to his kennel but I still had to coax him in and give him a little push.

The third time I walked him he walked with me with out stopping, ate my treats and when we stopped at the love bench, he put his paws on my legs and let me totally love on him. When we got back inside the building and in front of his cage, he walked right in. I was smitten!! I saw a young puppy coming out of him..

Every day after that was just amazing. He had a spark in his eye and seemed genuinely happy to see me. I would be so bummed when I came in and someone else had walked him but I made sure to stop by to tell him how awesome he was and give him treats.

The last day I walked him, we were walking up the hill and he stopped and dropped in the bushes and just began rolling around. My boy was frolicking. My old man was acting like a puppy who had found his happy place. He even played tug of war with me. I was so happy that I just wanted to shout, “Hey everyone! Look at this beautiful boy playing and being a puppy again!”

When I came back the next day, he was gone. He had been moved to a different location. Where he went, could have given him a better chance of being adopted. I kept checking his profile on our website and then one day I saw he was in a foster home. I was so happy, someone was loving on him and he was in a home again. Just recently I saw he was once again at our other shelter.

If I didn’t have my two precious boxer girls, I would adopt him in a heartbeat. So now I just continue praying that my precious boy will get to live out his last days in a home with some amazing people loving all over him. I’m hoping that I can take a trip to the Zona Rosa Adoption Center at 8721 N Stoddard Ave, Kansas City and maybe walk and visit him some time.

It’s a good thing my heart has a lot of strings that can be pulled cause……..I’m hoping to be here for a long time.

I walked Hinkley again today! This time I took her to the play yard and she let me pet her and feed her hot dogs. She didn’t flinch one time. Progress!!!!