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September 6th 2014 Update: Brad’s “Pom With an Edge” attitude worked in his favor. He met his new forever family and their THREE Springer Spaniels on Saturday afternoon. The female of the pack is a little territorial, so she and Brad had a little pecking-order faceoff. The boys in the pack were fairly submissive. In the end, all got along well enough, Brad’s now a spoiled indoor-only dog, and he’s in good hands, with some folks who know how to handle and care for their dogs. It’s been a long journey for this little guy. Took awhile to find the right home.

Original post: We’ve been doing the “finding foster dogs their forever homes” thing for years. The theory – which usually pans out – is that you take a dog who’s in need of an owner and find him or her a new pack. The dog might be a refugee from a puppy mill (sigh); it might have come from someone who could just no longer keep it (long list of examples there); or it might have just a rescue from an overcrowded shelter.

Sometimes, however, they come back. This is the case with Brad, through absolutely no fault of his. “Brad and Angelina” came to us over a year ago from a shelter in Modesto, CA. They were both quickly adopted out. (Here’s “Angie’s story.) Brad’s a sweet little dog with a couple of quirks: We don’t know if he was abused, overbred, or just bounced between too many homes (foster dog baggage), but he’s sort of a really nervous dog. If you verbally correct him with too loud a voice, he tends to squeal and cower.

So…he’s a sweet dog that just need a little extra sensitivity in the corrections department. He responds well to a quiet, yet firm voice. (Hey, don’t we all?) We’ve also discovered he’s a lap dog. Loves his crate, too.

Brad’s also a Pomeranian, which means he’s wicked cute. It also means he has long hair, which common sense tells most folks that a simple, basic brushing or combing once or twice a week keeps him in shape. In that “temporary forever home” where he’s been the last year, we discovered he was basically a neglected “yard dog”. When we got him back (lucky we did for his sake), we spent FIVE HOURS hours (yes, five hours) clipping and detangling the matted hair that was pulling his skin and making him just a very unhappy little boy.

Brad’s now groomed and settled. He’s been at our place for a week with his temporary pack. We’ve also discovered he LOVES playing with other dogs. Especially when they’re his size.

You can apply to adopt Brad through the Animal Friends Rescue Project web site, or feel free to email me directly if you have any questions.