UPDATE: The winner is…Stacey!
*~*~*
My first dog, Keiko, was a black lab/shepherd mix. My brother owned a black German Shepherd. She’d gotten loose and come home pregnant. We didn’t even know who the dad was until the puppies were born. I took one. To be very clear — neither my brother nor I had the maturity to handle being dog owners. I muddled through, though and — somehow — Keiko lived to eleven. Her death devastated me, and I swore off dog ownership.
At the time, I had a cattery of Himalayans with two queens — Lady Arabella de Bergerac (father Cyrano, Bella for short) and Lady Jane Eyre Rochester. My stud was Sir Sinjin Fitzwilliam Darcy.
They were an interesting brood. Again, I wasn’t as responsible as I should have been. That said, many families got wonderful himi babies (including, apparently, one of the Housewives of Vancouver…?).
The queens aged out, I rehomed Sinjin to a lovely retirement, and life continued.
Until a friend posted on FB that her sister had bought a small dog and things weren’t working out.
6 years since Keiko had passed.
I went to my building manager and, she thinking I only had 3 cats, approved my request (I had 4 — long story). I let my friend know I could take Ally.
Ally had found a home.
I was… I don’t know the right word. Not upset or resigned…determined? I had permission and was ready to open my heart again. Another friend directed me to Animal Control and Henry. An older abandoned small dog available for rescue. I hustled down there — only to find a couple had beat me to it. My application was warmly received, though. I had good references, my building manager approved, my cats were good with dogs and, most importantly, I’d had a dog previously. Henry went to the couple, but the shelter said they’d keep my application.
Two days later, my friend called. Ally’s rehoming hadn’t worked. Could I take her?
Sure!
Thus began my journey into doggie parenthood again. (The shelter called a couple of days later with a Bichon Frisee and I was sorry to say no – if Henry had worked out, I’m not sure what I would’ve done about Ally…so the universe watching out for me…).
I brought Ally home and went to my friend who had directed me to Henry. I wanted to be a better dog parent this time. Now in my late 30s, my life was vastly different than my early 20s.
She said, “Get thee to PetSmart and trainer Barb.”
I did. Four rounds of training later, Ally passed her Tricks class as well as her therapy dog training. She thrived in the training environment and when I took her out in public, she did really well. Except she would sometimes hesitate, so we never did the St. John’s Ambulance training to get the provincially-recognized certification. The certificate I did receive (and the training that went with it), opened doors, though. We did all right.
Then came COVID. By then I just had Ally and Bella (Jane had passed and my last two kittens had been rehomed to a sanctuary where they’re living their best lives). Without Ally being out and in public all the time, she started to withdraw. Then came the masks, tiny elevators, and many strange people as we wound up moving three times in one year.
When restrictions eased, I started taking her out again, but we never got back to where she was.
Sigh.
Then came a message out of the blue from a good friend: would Ally like a buddy? Since my friend was going to Africa for a trip, I was assuming she wanted me to dog sit.
Nope. Her soccer buddy had a nervous dog who needed rehoming urgently. He needed to be with someone who worked from home because he cried all day every day when left alone — he was upset, his owner was upset, the neighbours were upset — just a mess.
My vet friend, whom I trust implicitly, said, “Don’t do it.” That dogs on meds with behavioral issues were a ton of work. That I had my job and my writing career — which was essentially a second job.
Then she realized I was going to do it anyway, so she coached me on everything I needed to know.
A few days later, I brought Finnegan home.
Total disaster. Bella had passed the year before, and Ally had settled into being an only child. She did NOT want a Finnegan. For his part, Finnie is a very sensitive boy, and her obvious animosity from Ally hurt his soul. I thought I’d have to rehome him.
Then something happened.
Ally stopped snarling (well, snarled less). She wasn’t so…angry. She gave him some space.
He thrived.
I discovered he could be left alone — because he had her.
And her anxiety over me leaving lessened as well.
Win/win.
One month later, I officially adopted him (well, thanked his previous owner. That was a sad situation because she’d rescued him with the best of intentions and, in the end, he had three homes in four months). The owner philosophically said she was Finnie’s steppingstone to his forever home. Which was so true. If she hadn’t mentioned her dilemma to my friend, and if I hadn’t been working from home, I never would’ve rescued Finnie.
That’s the story. We haven’t had a snarl in more than a year. Oh, Finnie turned out to be quite a bit older than I’d been led to believe. Whatever. So he’s 11, Ally’s now 10 and I never saw myself as rescuing TWO dogs — let alone one as a five-month-old pup and one as a 10-year-old senior.
My plan is to only rescue senior dogs from now on.
But my two are exceptionally healthy. Both have lost weight in the past two years which was good because both were a little chunky. The vet is thrilled with their progress.
My vet friend said she’d never been so happy to be wrong.
Finnie fits perfectly. He was the missing piece we didn’t know we needed.
He’s not perfect — he’s food obsessed, wants to kiss everyone, and is a little excitable (no one believes he’s 11). Ally’s not perfect either. She’s territorial, unwelcoming of strangers, and doesn’t like certain people (although once she gets to know you, she’ll love you forever).
And there you have it. A LONG story. But I hope a good one. I’ve never been happier, and they’re living their best lives.
Okay! I’m happy to give away a prize! I’ll give away a copy of any of my Animal Rescue books – eBook for the three or audio for Love Furever. Just let me know – have you ever met a rescue animal? Or considered doing it yourself? Pet as a child? Or allergic and unable? Not everyone has the capacity to have an animal, I get that. Just share something that touches you. Maybe a book with an animal where the story stuck with you? Random will pick a winner and if you have all my animal rescue books, I can give you something from my back catalogue. Good luck!
(Pictures — Ally, Finnie, my friend Kit, and my on Finnie’s official adoption day — he’s black and white while Ally’s tan and white. The second photo is of them last month letting me know what they think of wearing their coats and of me working all the time…)
Friends of Gaynor Beach Animal Rescue: Series Synopsis
Fur babies are family, too! Gaynor Beach, CA, is a welcoming place for gay and bi men to raise their kids, but until now, the Gaynor Beach animal rescue landscape has been a deficient patchwork. One man is determined to change that, to open a rescue for animals in need. But it turns out, it takes a whole village to raise a shelter. And in the process of creating a refuge for furry, scaly, and feathered friends, human hearts may find each other too.
Friends of Gaynor Beach Animal Rescue is a shared world gay romance series featuring cute critters in need and the men who care for them.
Love Furever – Gabbi Grey
Impurrfections – Kaje Harper
Iguana You to Want Me – Meredith Spies
Husky Love – Gabbi Grey
Ruff Start – Roan Rosser
Yorkie to My Heart – Gabbi Grey
Links:
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C3RVSRP6
All 6 books available in other stores: Kobo, Apple Books, Barnes& Noble, Smashwords, Google Play
Add it to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/series/388666-friends-of-gaynor-beach-animal-rescue
About the Author
USA Today Bestselling author Gabbi Grey lives in beautiful British Columbia where her fur baby chin-poo keeps her safe from the nasty neighborhood squirrels. Working for the government by day, she spends her early mornings writing contemporary, gay, sweet, and dark erotic BDSM romances. While she firmly believes in happy endings, she also believes in making her characters suffer before finding their true love. She also writes m/f romances as Gabbi Black and Gabbi Powell.
Personal links:
Website: https://gabbigrey.com/
Newsletter sign-up: https://sendfox.com/gabbigrey
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorgabbigrey/
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/gabbi-grey
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15456297.Gabbi_Grey
Amazon Author Central: https://www.amazon.com/Gabbi-Grey/e/B07SJVFX1M
Audible Profile: https://www.audible.com/author/Gabbi-Grey/B07SJVFX1M
Facebook (page): https://www.facebook.com/AuthorGabbiGrey
Just a quick note. I’ll go into surgery sometime on Tuesday. I’ll have guests on the blog, but there won’t be daily posts until I feel well enough to sit at my desk, so closing out current contests may lag. Also, I won’t be here to share my guests’ posts. If you can, please share them on your social media to help get out the word for them. 
In my blog posts, I do my best to destroy the myth of the single narrative usually painted of African Americans in the 19th century, i.e., destitute, formerly enslaved, and/or dependent on the largesse of well-meaning Whites. Eliza Potter with her book, 
