When I visited the Fort Worth Animal Care and Control Center, my sole intention was to volunteer. I had already completed orientation and all of the dog and cat training videos. My closed-toe shoes, jeans, and t-shirt with "VOLUNTEER" lined across the back were ready to go. I was going to make a difference as a volunteer. At least, that was my initial intention. Then, shortly after, I started seeing posts about "Code Red" dogs and dogs in need of foster homes. Hmmm, maybe I could foster a dog...The thought crossed my mind, and I told my boyfriend about it. He was fully supportive and offered to the shelter with me to pick a dog.
After setting an appointment to do a meet and greet with fostering candidates, the day finally arrived! We headed to FWACC to find the dog that I would foster. I was excited, but I was also a little nervous. I had fostered before, and it didn't go well. It's a long story for another post. I knew this time would be different. Plus, it helped that my boyfriend offered to do it with me. We would "co-foster" whatever dog we chose until they were adopted or selected for transport.
Once at the shelter, we met two dogs that were pre-selected for transport, but they didn't seem quite like a fit. So, we headed into the first room that housed small dogs and puppies. We glanced around, and there were so many dogs that it was extremely difficult to choose. How do you choose? It honestly hurt my feelings that there were so many, and I knew that some of them would never make it out of the doors of the shelter. Unfortunately, I knew that we wouldn't save them all but we could at least save one. One day, I'll help more though.
As we scoured the room, we saw a lot of amazing dogs, and they all deserved to be loved and out of this shelter. They all deserved the world. I'm looking at a Black lab puppy when my boyfriend calls me over. He's standing in front of a crate with this adorable, honey-colored dog who's lying belly-up in her crate. Her name was Rolanda, and I was amazed at sweet Rolanda. How was she so composed to lie on her back as if the other 50 dogs in the room weren't barking their little heads off? We were stunned by her composure, and she piqued our interest.
We quickly headed back to one of the foster coordinators to let her know that we were interested in "Rolanda." The coordinator headed to grab her and brought her to the meeting room. As she's unleashing her, she said, "She is such a cool puppy. She was in there chilling, just lying belly-up with no cares in the world." My boyfriend and I smiled at her as we told her that she was doing the same when we were in there. Once unleashed, Rolanda runs to my boyfriend and I and catapults onto the couch between us. It was then that we knew that she was the one. Or maybe she knew.
As we drove the 15 minutes to my boyfriend's house, Rolanda (Ro, for short) held onto me tightly like she was afraid to let go. I held onto her tightly. I wanted her to feel safe and loved because she was both. While I was reassuring her, my boyfriend and I were questioning how she ended up with the name, Rolanda. Honestly, it sounded like a name for an old aunt, and we didn't think it fit her. Thus, we started brainstorming new names. I came up with several but gasped "Honey." It seemed like a fitting name. She was the color of clover honey, and she was super sweet and kind. It was perfect. Rolanda was now Honey, and Honey was safe and sound with two amazing strangers.
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