The story of Holly

When we lost Moses, our dog that we had had for almost eight years, the house felt very empty. We found ourselves avoiding being there because there was nobody to greet us at the door, and the place was eerily quiet without him around.

One of our friends who works at the Victoria SPCA, knowing that we needed a canine presence but that we weren't ready for a permanent dog yet, told us to come to the shelter to meet Holly, a husky who was stressed to be there and was attracting all the wrong attention. Everyone who was interested in her seemed to be looking for an "image" instead of a new family member. Young Holly, with her stunning ice-blue eyes and beautiful wolf-like coat, could not seem to catch the attention of anyone who was likely to raise her responsibly.

We SOS'd her, which stands for "Sleep Over and Socialize". An SOS dog is taken from they shelter every evening and spends the night in a home environment, and is returned to the shelter every morning so that she is there during adoption hours.

Darling Holly turned out to have a wonderful personality - she was sociable, enthusiastic, and loved other dogs. Despite her youthful enthusiasm, she was very gentle with other dogs. We came across a tiny poodle mix during a walk one day and Holly, vibrating with glee, laid down so that she could be on the same level as the little dog when they greeted each other. She was great in any environment - we walked her downtown and she didn't mind the traffic or crowds at all. We took her to the SPCA Paws for a Cause walk and she enjoyed herself among the other dogs and the crowds of people.

We took her into the shelter the first Saturday that we had had her and stayed around for a while in order to spend time with a new arrival that was lonely and depressed. While we were there, our friend who works at the shelter appeared and told us that a very nice family was asking questions about Holly!! We talked to them and told them what we knew about her. They had recenly lost their german shepherd and were looking for a new dog. Their shepherd had not been good around other dogs, and they were skeptical when we told them how great Holly was with other dogs. They did want a dog this time that they didn't have to worry about when they were out and about. They filled out an application and took her out for a walk to get to know her. We were excited! They were a very nice family with three teenage kids. They owned a house in a nice neighbourhood and seemed very stable and responsible.

They came back from their walk and told us all about how nice Holly had been when they encountered another dog - they had to see it for themselves, but now they believed us! The decision had been made and they took her home!

Our experience with sweet Holly affected our decision when we adopted our own dog. Arlo has similar looks and personality as Holly, and we may have overlooked the lanky goofy guy if we hadn't had such a wonderful time taking care of Holly. After we adopted him, one day we went to a different location for Arlo's obedience class than we usually did...and there was Holly! We had a nice chat with her owner and it turned out that they LOVED her and were having lots of fun, and had changed her name to Paige. It was a perfect match and we were happy knowing she was part of a great family and would be for the rest of her life.