Making it Obvious

Homechecks are kind of funny creatures. Sometimes you have a really good paper application, but you get to the homecheck and it feels wrong, or the dog just doesn't seem to be the match even though the people like them. Or sometimes you get one on paper that seems okay or good enough for a homecheck, but doesn't scream "THIS IS THE ONE". A lot of the time you either get one good screamer going "THIS IS THE ONE!!!" along with some subpar ones, or you get a bunch of good but not standout apps that are really hard to tell apart or rank.

GG's apps fall in the second category.

So being the "gut" person I am, I flick through app and get stuck on one. I get stuck on it because it's one of those weird apps that most people will throw away in favor of a screamer or one that looks better on paper.

In a nutshell:
Married couple, 7 year old girl and a cat, fenced in acreage that they share with mum's parents. Used to be a horse farm. Dad works a lot but mum is off, will at most work part-time weekends. They've had dogs in their past before their daughter, but a year ago they adopt sight-unseen a Chihuahua mix who turned out to be very aggressive with children. After seven months of training, they made the difficult decision to rehome him.

It feels like a dark horse application, what with a kid and a rehomed dog but there's just something about it. I can't explain "the gut".

It's going to go one of two ways: It's going to be "the one" or it's going to be a complete gong-show. They're close though, all of a 7 minute ride. So because of all the combinations, I decide to hit it up. It's worth a chance. Besides, GG will truly tell me all I need to know (besides the nuts and bolts).

After doing so many homecheck -I'm realizing just how many lately-, I can pick up on signs from the dog even if they're subtle. After all, this is potentially their home for the long haul, they should have at least a bit of say right?

So anyway, take the little trip to the dark horse home, walk in to a beautiful house, tidy but obviously lived in. GG greets the cat nicely. She is polite and tail-wagging with the mum and dad, but a light hits her eyes suddenly when she sees the daughter.

The weirdest thought crossed all three of our minds I think, mine, GG and the girl. Love at first sight?

GG proceeded to follow the seven year old around for the rest of the homecheck, glued to her heels or snuggling with her on the couch. We talked for awhile about the dog they had to rehome, the lifestyle they lead, etc. I was very surprised the daughter has such good dog skills, so many more than most adult dog owners. I was having such a good dog conversation with a seven year old. Cool! The family had worked really hard with their old rescue dog to get him comfortable around children. They succeeded in getting him to a point where he could be comfortable with their daughter, but not any other child. He got to the point where even if children entered the house and he was crated he would bite the bars of his crate until his mouth bled. Quality of life, for both him and for the daughter were called into question and they made the difficult decision to find him an adult only home. But man did they learn a lot from the experience.

But the strangest part was yet to come. It was already obvious GG loved the girl, but I was very surprised of what happened when I went to leave. She followed me out the door just fine, but when I loaded her up in the car she started to whine -a dog I've never heard a peep out of-. And then as I started pulling out of the driveway she started screaming her silly head off.

Way to make it obvious GG.

We'll be talking to the rescuers today, but when it comes down to playing matchmaker, this is a pretty obvious match :)