I met three foster dogs in total before meeting Melvin. The second dog was a black lab. I drove to Maryland one week night to meet him. He was a large lab, at least 100 pounds. That didn’t worry me. He was sweet, rambunctious and a beautiful. He and I spent time in the foster parent’s back yard and went for a long walk. He was not perfect on the leash but that just requires patience, practice and sometimes the right tools. By the end of the visit he was sitting on my lap. His only issue was that he was an escape artist. If the front door was opened for any reason, he would attempt to get out. He was also a jumper when it came to fences. LRR required someone who would work on 1. not letting him escape and 2. teaching him that staying was more rewarding. I had no concern about either. I left thinking he might be the one.

Dog three was in Virginia. Her current foster mom was a dedicated foster mom indeed. This woman had fostered several dogs and had ended up keeping many of them. I admire this selfless personality trait, dedication and an inability to say no! It was at dog three that I realized there were going to be dogs that were not right for us. She was delightful (and just a few weeks after I met her she was adopted by her forever home) but she was not for me and not for Max. Something just didn’t click. Maybe it was the interaction I’d had with dog two, maybe it was just incompatibility.

I went home that night to give dog two serious thought. I was unaffected by his Houdini ways and felt confident we could make it work. I was going to sit with it but I was already pretty certain. That was, until I checked the site and saw Melvin’s mug shot. LRR didn’t believe in love at first sight but suddenly I refused to decide about dog two until I was able to meet Melvin. I had to be sure.

That meeting would have to wait a bit, Melvin was in Pennsylvania.