My wife and I have been fostering and finding homes for dogs through Animal Friends Rescue Project (AFRP) for like six or seven years. There’ve been so many, we simply could not pick a favorite.

Okay, I lied. Jax is our favorite. No question. Jax is a fluffy white Pomeranian. And as a rule, I hate small dogs, though there have been exceptions. Not every rule has to stick, I suppose.

Jax came to us back in March. He was literally (ahem, note proper use of the word) on death row at the Stockton CA shelter. It’s a shelter known for being overcrowded. What’s so special about the Stockton shelter? You can blame the economy, backyard breeders who won’t fix their dogs, or irresponsible dog owners who just won’t chip and fix their animals.

As with anything, there’s no one answer. It’s a combination of all the above. Nothing is black and white, except maybe a rainbow to a dog.

Jax got lucky. He was spotted by and picked up by our pal Sue from AFRP, and we took him in. He was underweight, had a chronic cough that one vet suspected was kennel cough, and he wasn’t fixed. (Jax, not the vet, though we didn’t think it appropriate to ask.) We put some weight back on Jax, had him fixed, and waited for the cough to clear. And waited. And waited. VCA in Santa Cruz – we highly recommend them, BTW – eventually found TWO foxtails buried in Jax right ear. They were removed last Monday, and he hasn’t coughed since.

As spring rolled along, my wife and kept remarking, “Damn, he’s cute. But we do not need four dogs”. Three dogs is a bit much. When you take on a fourth, your friends start talking about you. We kept saying, “No way. We really don’t four dogs.” Then we started asking each other, “Uhm…do you think we want four dogs?”

Fortunately, common sense prevailed. And last weekend, with just a minimum amount of tears on our end, Jax went to his perfect home. He’s now in Los Gatos with a great little family, with three kids and a four-year old female German Shepherd named Gracey. Oh, and Jax’ new best friend is the family’s young son, “Zach”. Him mom calls him “Zaks.” I’d say it’s a perfect fit.

And we’re back to a “normal” pack of three dogs. It’s still too many.