"Happy" the Rescue Dog
WASHINGTON ANIMAL RESCUE LEAGUE

Owner: Kathy

It had been more than a year since Jet had died (our second family dog member) so I was on a quest to bring a new dog member into my life. After doing several searches on the web to find a dog rescue site, I decided on the Washington Animal Rescue League and Medical Center. On my first visit there I was wonderfully taken by many of the dogs that I saw. I had to make a second visit and a third visit to the Shelter before making a final decision on which dog I wanted take care of "till death do us part." However I do recall the first dog that I saw because he was the most quiet and shy. I remember saying to him, "Don't worry little guy. After I say hello to all the other dogs then I will come back and talk with you some more." However I stayed visiting with all the other dogs for so long that it was time for the shelter to close and I had not yet returned to Morti's cage.

When I returned to the shelter, I was informed that Morti (I changed his name to Happy) was sick and was taken to the Vet Medical Center next door. I then made a formal request to adopt Happy. I visited him for the enter week that he was hospitalized at the Medical Center. I was at the shelter the Friday night that he was released in good health back to his cage. It was a happy reunion. I brought him home with me that Saturday.

Happy was first given to the Baltimore Animal Shelter after living a previous life of abuse and neglect. He was then transferred to The Washington Animal Rescue League since this shelter has a policy of providing homes for their animals.

Since Happy and I needed to learn basic and socialization exercises, we were referred to Allie Lee at Greenbelt Dog Training. During the first session, Happy barked for most of the session and went after every dog in the class. After the first one-hour session with Happy, I was not sure that we would make it through the other six sessions. However thanks to Allie's positive talks with me, Happy and I returned to the other six sessions. Happy was able to learn all of the basic exercises and did well during the socialization exercises.

I am pleased to say that Happy and I graduated from the Greenbelt Dog Training basic classes and now we are planning to take the intermediate classes offered by the GDT.