November, 2006 --

I get an email that there's a 5-6 week old baby in an Ohio shelter that is slated for euthanasia by gassing, but the shelter is waiting him to reach legal body weight before his demise -- :(

With some quick leg-work and coordination of some kind people, we get this boy pulled and moving out of Ohio.

As with all Ohio survivors, he needs a strong name, so I name him Roman.

And to the right is what I got --

-- a little man with little more than a tail wag and a boastful confidence --

-- sure, he came with a slight bend in his tail, sure his ears were a little bigger than most, and sure, he was black, a usually hard color to adopt out, but this boy had confidence, and he was sweet.

What I also got was a phone call from his original transporter telling me that one of his transport-mates came down with parvo, and that Roman may have contracted it on the ride.

Parvo is extremely contagious to puppies, and is often fatal. I had the tail-end of two litters I was placing, so I was concerned for everyone's welfare.

So, I posted Roman's listing here, and waited the 7-10 days to see if he was parvo positive --

-- and thankfully, he WASN'T -- !!

Then, in late December, I started getting calls and emails from Courtenay, who had another dog and small kids -- something I usually shy away from -- but Courtenay was determined, and we scheduled a pup meet-and-greet at PetSmart -- PASS -- !!

-- and next was the home visit -- !!

-- so here's the home that greeted us --

-- a beautiful, warm home with many positives inside -- !!

First, we re-met up with Courtenay and her Petey.

Here's Courtenay's introduction to the pb-smiles forum --

"My name is Courtenay and I live in NT. I am married and we have three children and a wide variety of pets. I came across this site a couple of weeks ago in a search for someone special.
More on that in a sec, a little bit of background first.

I was first introduced to these breeds about 12 years ago when I was lucky enough to rescue a Staff from a life of fighting. He was such a beautiful, loving baby. Several years after Steel passed, we had the opportunity to help out another when his owners were going to leave him behind during a move. Luckily, my mom was in the right place and the right time."

"Petey is about 11-12 and has been with us for over four years now and he is such a ....well, I believe Eric used a great descriptive...tank. Petey is a tank...made of love and kisses and more love. He is a great member of the family and gets along strangely well with the cats and our bunny! Strangely defined as....sleeping cuddled up together, cleaning the cats, he even steps out of the way for our Tink (his buddy cat) if she is snacking on his food!

Going back to the search for someone special....we had been looking for another pup for a while when I came across this site and was sooooo pleased to find so many others who loved these breeds. Then I saw Roman and that was that! I knew that he was the pup we had been waiting on. His pics did it for me and then I saw his story. There was an email or two, and a few phone calls and a lot of determination!! It was Christmas Eve and a visit from Eric made our family bigger and happier. Roman fits in so well...we all love him to pieces and he and Petey have become fast friends!

I look forward to remaining a part of this community am grateful for Eric and everyone who was a part of Roman coming into our lives!"

Well, I immediately knew little Roman was blessed when I met this household --

-- Courtenay is a stay-at-home mom who home-schools her three children, and her husband works in a juvenile reform center --

-- in short, great people -- !!

Here, we have little Roman and big Petey meeting up --

-- Roman says, "Oh, but how BIG you are -- !!"

And next, with his new sister --

-- as always, Roman's a little ham -- !!

Now, his first toy --

-- just LOOK at the spectators he's got --

-- there's a lot of pressure on this one, Roman -- !!

-- now, a close-up -- old meets new --

-- the family guard gives him a thorough inspection --

-- and he is loved -- :D

After two days, Courtenay writes --

"I just wanted to send you a personal and sincere thank you. I am so glad that you decided to let us adopt Roman and I know that I can be persistent ;) It was all for a good reason! He does not like the crate at all. The first night was a real hoot. I'll have to tell you the dramatics I went through so that everyone else could sleep! It's too funny! Also, he does not like Iams Puppy. He refuses to eat it.

However after that conversation with you and looking over the site, I did some research and went out this evening to get them both on something a lot more "au natural" shall we say...found a special pet store around the way. Hopefully this will help Pete slim down even more too. Not that Roman won't help that along too!"

"They truly are getting along so well. Last night we let them sit in bed with us while we watched tv and they were screwing around so much we had to give them the boot. Roman is one thing but when Petey starts flopping and hopping around....oh noooo!!!

Well, I will keep you posted as things go on and remember what you said, we aren't far away! A thousand "thank yous" to you!"

Well, you can really see what a real blessing this family is for little Roman, and what a blessing he is for them --

-- going in to the home visit, I found the children polite and respectful, a result of great parenting --

-- something which you don't see too often any more -- !!

-- and finally, I got comments on how "cute" Roman's tail and ears were --

-- in short, a wonderful home.

In this picture, Roman has other things in mind -- !!

And thank you to Roman, for showing me the beauty of the simple things in life --

-- you came to rescue with little more than a wag and a loving soul --

-- and you left to make this family complete, and to have many years of a wonderful life.

We look forward to many updates --

-- THANK YOU, everyone!