SCOUT'S ADOPTION STORY

Scout's adoption is a really wonderful happy ending story which illustrates the beauty of Mastiff Rescue- what a great feeling to have some part in bringing the right people and the right Mastiffs together....especially in such situations as Scout's. Pictured below with her new 'brother' Dempsey. Don't they make a beautiful pair!

~ Dolly Moore ~ Webmaster SSMR

Scout had already had two owners in her young life when she came to us at 2.5 years of age. She was such an obviously sweet girl who loved everyone- but was experiencing some depression.

Scout had recently been separated from her littermate sibling brother who was her sidekick and constant companion up until this time - so to lose her second chance at a forever home AND her brother at the same time- was just a bit too much to ask of anyone. She found herself 'alone' now for the first time ever and really missed her brother.

I found myself hoping for the ideal home for Scout- which would be a family who had a male of similar age to Scout ...and a male who wasn't too dominant and forceful- one who actually liked his sister to be in charge sometimes- as that is the way Scout and her brother were together. But yet, one that would play together with her and spend their days together in harmony.

While all this would be ideal- I knew that in reality, to find such a match was very unlikely- and resigned myself to the fact that she'd probably be just fine in another family situation without the same dynamics she grew up with- after all, most dogs do adapt very well to such life changes more than people do, as long as they have a loving new owner to bond with.

 Yet, if such a family existed in our previous applications I wanted to be sure I didn't miss them- so I spent a lot of time researching our applications. Almost incredibly, an adoption application had come to us just that week from a family in VA who actually sounded almost too good to be true!

Here was their situation:

This family was in mourning due to the very unexpected and premature loss of one of their two Mastiffs to cancer. (Her name was Annie). While the whole family was quite devastated, probably no one felt Annie's loss more painfully on a daily basis more than Dempsey, the family's huge, beautiful brindle Mastiff- and Annie's brother.

Dempsey is an easy-going, gentle giant of a Mastiff who has a rock-solid temperament and who loves everyone and everything on earth. (Once He even tolerated an 'attack' by a pug one day- who was literally hanging on his jowels but Dempsey seemed not to even notice that he had been attacked and now sported a 'pug facial attachement'!!)

But now Dempsey was different and his family was getting very worried about him.

Since Annie had died, Dempsey seemed lost. He and Annie had complimented each other so well that they were almost like half of one whole.

Dempsey, being the more laid-back of the pair, and Annie being the more outgoing alpha type.

Within their little family pack, Dempsey always relied on his sister Annie to be the watchful alert one in the family since by nature he preferred snoozing to watching out the window for 'intruders'.

Dempsey needed Annie to keep him active and playful to some degree, and without Annie, Dempsey had lost the heart to run or play anymore.

It was clear that Dempsey was not only depressed and confused- but that he felt he needed a doggie 'pack leader' in order to be his normal laid-back Dempsey self.

Dempsey's family began to wonder if maybe adopting another Mastiff might help to refocus Dempsey in a positive way...but not just any Mastiff would do, of course. Above all, they did not want to make Dempsey's situation any worse than it was.

But was it likely that they would find just the right girl for Dempsey- one in personality like Annie?

This was a longshot. The potential new Mastiff would have to be a girl, be around Dempsey's age, be friendly and outgoing and not intimidated by Dempsey's sheer size.

That perfect match would also be a Mastiff who would perk him up physically and encourage him to play once in awhile again so that he could remain active.

This potential Mastiff would need to be just alpha enough with Dempsey so that he didn't feel the stress of needing to fill Annie's shoes any longer-  as he clearly did not want to be the pack leader.....but rather the couch protector!

Jackie filled out the profile form just to explore this idea. Perhaps it was a long shot, but it was worth looking into.

When I read their profile I was trying very hard not to get too excited about them- after all, they were a long way from Scout geographically. But the story of Dempsey and Annie so moved me and Scout and Dempsey sure sounded like a promising match..not to mention that this family was an absolute dream home for any Mastiff in all other ways.

After checking their references, and having a home visit done thanks to our VA State Coordinator's quick action, this family was found to be the 'real McCoy' and adoption plans ensued!

A plan was made for Jackie to fly to Alabama to meet Scout- and if all went well, she would rent a van and drive home with her. If however, upon meeting Scout, that she felt that Scout was not the one for their family, we would move on down the list of potential adopters for Scout. But it was certainly worth the shot!

Finally came the long-awaited day when one of the potential family members, Jackie,  came to meet Scout! Immediately Scout greeted Jackie like a long-lost friend. After visiting for a couple of hours Jackie felt that Scout was the one for their family- and she rented a van for the long drive home. Scout jumped up into the van like she had been with Jackie forever- and curled up on the cozy blanket for the ride to her new home....below is a photo I took of Scout and Jackie as they walked out to the van to start their new lives together.

Our gut feelings were correct, and when Jackie and Scout arrived at home, Dempsey and Scout hit it off very quickly- each seeming to instinctively fill that empty space that the other Mastiff had after losing their siblings- to the point that Scout even began sleeping where Annie used to sleep etc...it was quite uncanny in that way- this match.

Below is another shot of Scout and Dempsey together.