Pinto

Pinto has been adopted.

As anyone who is familiar with dog rescue knows, sometimes things don’t always go as planned. For Pinto, one our most recently rescued pups this is a pattern that he knows all too well. While Pinto probably thought that he would live with his last family for the rest of his life, sadly that wasn’t the case. ​He was given up at just 1 year of age, and while we don’t know exactly how he ended up in the situation we did, we are thrilled that we have been able to give him a second chance to show him that this will not happen again!

When we first noticed Pinto, his shelter listing broke all of our hearts. Here was a totally sweet, polite, young dog who found himself in a situation he just couldn’t understand. Apart from the only people he ever loved, Pinto began to disintegrate mentally, at an astonishingly rapid rate. Pinto could barely make eye contact with shelter staff, would defecate and urinate if they tried to handle him, and would find shelter against the walls of his kennel, escaping in the only way he could from human touch. He feared being spoken to, no matter how friendly the tone.

We reached out to our volunteers to see if we could place him in one of our foster homes as Pinto had a deadline. With no one available at the shelter to take Pinto home, his timid nature and inability to show well to visitors was quickly turning against him and Pinto was running out of time. He was scheduled to be put to sleep at 7pm last Saturday.

What happened next was a beautiful testimonial that reminds us all why we are in rescue. Though many of our foster homes were at full capacity, one particular volunteer Sheri, who began her relationship with Save Me Rescue as an adopter of two beautiful dogs, reached out to her parents. Susan and Martin instantly felt a pull towards Pinto, as if he was calling their name. We confirmed Pinto’s arrival and our two new foster parents instantly set out to make sure Pinto would be as comfortable as possible in their home.

Now you’ll remember things don’t always go as planned? Based on Pinto’s shelter assessment we figured that he would need quite a bit of rehabilitation and would probably stick around for a few weeks to even a few months. Well did this boy have us fooled or did he ever have us fooled? Most likely the best actor of his generation, Pinto appears to have completely changed his tune the minute he step foot into his new foster home.

As always, we know that photos speak a thousand words, so if you don’t believe us just take a look at the ones below. Says his foster mom, “Pinto is a gorgeous boy. He doesn’t complain about being picked up, given puppy massages, being brushed or having his feet touched. His tail never stops wagging, and he is always happy. Pinto is a joy to walk on leash and while he is very curious when he sees children or other dogs; he does not bark or pull to get closer. He walks well with our large dog Molly and tries his h​ardest to play with her. Though Molly has been a bit snobbish​​, they have begun playing with each other outside in the yard during the last few days.

Pinto knows a lot of commands and is more than happy to do what is asked of him. He will come when he’s called even from the back yard! The best part is that he is not even treat motivated, he just likes to please. Pinto has a great appetite and has adjusted to the food we have been giving him with no problems at all. Being a younger dog he so loves to play but he also knows when to rest. He rests in a crate at night and doesn’t complain.

Pinto appears to have been well taken care of by his previous owner and we have no doubt he was loved dearly as Pinto loves his cuddles,hugs and kisses and just lying on the couch beside us. He truly is a joy to have around the house and doesn’t have a mean bone in his body. We think he definitely is a dog that is well worth rescuing. A family with children that loves dogs would be the perfect home for Pinto.”