A young woman lost her job and had to move from her home. With two young children, she decided that it was in the best interest of her dog to surrender him to Hedgesville Hounds. And that is how we got Cruiser. It was a very sad surrender, with the children sobbing, and the mother continuing to say softly, "We're doing it for him."
Cruiser received a record number of outstanding applications, so we worked down the list in the order
in which they were received, which is the fairest way we can think of to handle them. The first applicants had a great vet check and home visit. Once approved to adopt, they set up a time to meet Cruiser. There was just no chemistry between Cruiser and the potential adopters. They went home dog-less, and we contacted the second applicants. They live a good distance from Hedgesville and decided to look for a dog closer to where they lived.
We then called the applicant who was third. In her application, she had written that Cruiser looked a lot like her little rescue dog, Rooney and is the same age. Her vet check and home visit were great, and she was approved. She came to meet Cruiser with her little dog Rooney, and we were stunned by how much he looked like Cruiser - same long legs, same coloring, same shorter ears than King Charles spaniels typically have. The two dogs began to play almost immediately. And Cruiser - who had spent an hour and a half showing the first adopters how uninterested he was - was all over this potential adopter like a cheap suit. We laughed and laughed watching Cruiser and Rooney playing with such happy abandon, and the potential applicant explained how she had adopted Rooney from another rescue over a year ago and where he had originally come from.
After Cruiser went home with his new family, we called the young woman who had surrendered him to us, and told her how much he loved his new human and his new canine brother, who, coincidentally, looked just like him. We invited her children to come over and hear the happy story and see the photos of Cruiser's new brother, who looked just like him, and was the same age. And that is when we learned an amazing thing from this woman.
It begins in rural West Virginia with a litter of pups born two years ago (in October). The individual who bred the pups was "dabbling", and sold the pups she could sell, and then decided to give away the remaining pups. One "left-over" pup went to the young woman who surrendered Cruiser. Then the young woman told us that her sister, who saw how cute Cruiser was, asked if she could have a puppy from this litter too. So the young woman got a puppy for her sister.
The sister lost interest in her puppy, and the young woman took the pup, whose name was Bailey, away from her sister when the pup was about 6-7 months old. She then contacted a woman who works with the local Humane Society, and surrendered the pup. The pup went to the local Humane Society and was then pulled by a rescue, and placed by them.
We sent the photos of Rooney to the young woman who surrendered Cruiser. And she was in disbelief when she confirmed what you have by now already guessed. Rooney, formerly Bailey, IS CRUISER'S REAL BROTHER. He is the very puppy whom she took from her sister, who went through the Humane Society, and into another rescue. Who was adopted by Cruiser’s new mom. Who applied for Cruiser...... and who confirmed, when we called to tell her the news, that Rooney's original name was Bailey. Cruiser’s new mom, needless to say, is over the moon. And we are amazed at the way this crazy world works sometimes!
Cruiser is the dog on the left. Rooney, with the tell-tale mark on the left side of his muzzle, is the dog on the right.
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