Charlie came to Safe Harbor with two challenges ~ he was blind and had heartworm disease. One could be treated, the other couldn’t. Luckily for us, he is a happy, confident and resilient guy and he arrived at his foster home with only two things on his agenda. First to explore the house and the backyard, fearlessly establishing immediately the blueprint that blind dogs do in new surroundings. The second was to sit for a treat. He aced that.
Heartworm treatment can take up to 5 to 6 months, so he was in foster for a while. But his foster mom’s good friend, Francie, became a member of his Facebook fan club, and once Charlie was declared heartworm free, decided to come meet him. It was love at first ’sight’ for both of them. Francie went home to Seattle, grabbed her car and drove back to Colorado to scoop up Charlie. He’s never looked back.
Francie has this to tell us about Charlie’s new life: “I think Charlie is amazing! After spending 6 months in a loving, safe environment he gets into a car with a stranger and off he goes for a 1300-mile drive to his new home. The 3-day car ride, he slept peacefully the entire trip. Stopping the first night at a hotel and the next at his Mom’s friend’s house, he adjusted so beautifully, especially with his new buddy, Mark, who gave him lots of chicken!
Once he arrived at his new home, he quickly got acclimated. The first few days he followed me everywhere, but very quickly he felt secure enough to let me go to the bathroom or take a shower while he slept on one of his many beds. He is such a big help in the kitchen. If I am cooking something, he sits right by the stove until it’s done, hoping whatever that is, he gets some.
When I leave him, he gets a treat and some classical music and is always there to greet me when I come home.
He is a loving, beautiful soul who has brought so much love into my life. Worth every one of those 2600 miles!”