As mentioned, LRR requires at least three dog visits before you consider a dog. They want you to bring any other dogs you own with you. Max was too old to load up into the car (he had severe arthritis and jumping in and out of my large SUV was a bit tortuous) so LRR agreed that once I picked a dog they would come over and supervise the introduction with Max at our house. I was so thankful for this.

LRR had picked a female yellow lab for me to meet first. I read about her and agreed she sounded like a good fit. She was in Maryland so I headed out one day during the week to meet her and her foster family. I walked into the home and was quickly greeted by four large labs! Four! The foster mom was the most laid back, loving woman. Her love of animals was very apparent (I mean she had four 80 lb. dogs inside her home and there was not an ounce of chaos about it).

At first I was not sure which dog was the foster and it was at this point I realized how easy it would be to fall in love with all of them. How would I stay strong and stay focused on which dog would be the best fit? Was there really a best fit? Wasn’t it more important to save all dogs? The first thing the foster mom said to me was “Relax, she will find a home. Maybe it will be with you, maybe it won’t but you don’t have to feel bad for her. She’s fine.” Those words were like a deep cleansing breath. I sat on the floor and played with the foster dog and then took her for a walk. She was a sweet dog, very well-behaved, a tad more energetic than I expected but she was also excited to be meeting someone new. On the drive home I felt I had no idea what I was doing. Not about wanting another dog, but in regards to how do decide about which dog. I pretty much expected the dog to look at me and say “I’m the one”.

After the visit, LRR called to see how it went. The words came out: sweet dog, not sure. It was clearer to me at that moment why they want you to meet several dogs.

Check out LRR’s current group of adoptable dogs here!