Tails of a Shelter Dog: Gabbana

The following story is unique to the dog represented but may sound familiar to the experience of countless other rescue groups whose work is a stepping stone to finding an animal's permanent home. Gabbana's story is part of a growing collection of my personal experience as a volunteer dog walker at the Somerset Regional Animal Shelter (SRAS) in Bridgewater, NJ. This account is dedicated to every dog that has imprinted its paw in our hearts – and to the people who never gave up on them.

Chapter 1: Gabbana

My first day, I opened the door from the greeting lobby to the shelter area and was met by a cacophony of barking. A bit overwhelmed with the noise, I wasn’t sure which dog to leash up first. I walked down the row and greeted each dog by the name posted on their runs or listed on a clipboard above their crate. Some barked loudly and jumped excitedly, some wiggled and rubbed up against the cages, all of them wanted attention. Above all of the noise, there was one bark that was unique with its short, frantic, incessant note. I followed the sound and there, sitting on her bed, was this beautiful, skin and bones, German Shepherd. I’m not a German Shepherd breed person per se, but there was something about the way this dog looked at me that melted my heart. Her information sheet read ‘Gabbana’, 7 years old, surrendered.

She was the one. I needed to walk her first.

Before taking her out, though, I wanted to learn her story of how she arrived at the shelter:
Gabbana had been recently surrendered by her human who was a homeless vet living in his car. He no longer had the means or environment to care for her and releasing her to the shelter to give her a chance was his only option.

I wasn’t there when the exchange took place (thank God) and apparently the man was beside himself sobbing, hugging her closely, as he said his goodbyes. His decision was painfully made, and Gabbana was brought into one of the empty runs that became her new existence. While she now had the basics of food and shelter, she had just lost the only constant in her life – her person – not to mention this fragile human who was now without his one faithful companion. I’d bark frantically and incessantly, too.

And that worry about volunteering and experiencing a broken heart? Well, it was real.

To avoid being pulled into the depths of sadness for this creature, I had to compartmentalize what I was feeling and instead of letting the sadness get the better of me, I made it a mission to make sure this sweet girl knew she was not alone – and to find her a home.

And out the door we went for our first walk.

From the start, Gabbana was such an easy walker. She walked calmly and gently. As we approached the parking area, however, she became excited and started going up to each of the cars to look inside. ‘Is my person in this one? Is he in this one? Maybe he’s in this one.’ Despite the let down that he wasn’t to be found, she didn’t stop looking. It took several weeks before she resigned to the fact that he wasn’t there. Oh, my heart.

Over time, her skinny little frame – due to the dedicated care of the shelter staff – began to fill out. She began to accept treats. True to my mission, I asked anyone I thought would be suitable potential adopters to consider her. For one valid reason or another, there were no takers but they promised to get the word out. They heard her story and the outpouring of care for this lost soul gave me hope.

As Gabbana settled into her life at the shelter, I discovered that, indeed, she was not forgotten. I arrived one day to see her out with a woman, a teenage boy, and a younger girl. ‘Are they interested in Gabbana?’ I asked? ‘Yes, they are a friend of a relative of the man who surrendered her and want to take her home.’ Oh, happiness! As the paperwork was completed, I made sure to get the bag of treats that she was particularly fond of. I spoke with the woman and let her know how happy I was to see her go home – and had to hold back tears as I watched them drive away, fingers crossed.

As there were many more dogs to walk and care for, I focused on the tasks at hand. Yet, Gabbana was on my mind for the rest of the day.

The next time I went to the shelter, I heard this familiar bark. Oh, no! What happened? It turned out that Gabbana didn’t like the other dog already living in the house, and the solution was to return her to the shelter. This happens, unfortunately, as the best intentions don’t always turn out as hoped.

While I was happy to see my girl, I knew the best place for her was a permanent home and so the search continued. A few calls or inquiries came in about Gabbana – but no takers. Until….a woman, Heather from PA reached out to find out more about her. She was familiar with the breed and had a male German Shepherd the same age. Hmm, from her previous placement she was returned due to incompatibility with the residing dog. Does that mean that it’s all dogs or just certain dogs? There’s one way to find out.

I remember it was raining really hard that day when Heather, her dad, and her 7 year old male Shepherd, Monty, pulled up to the shelter in a pickup truck. I was anxiously standing ready to bring Gabbana out to meet Heather for the first time, fingers crossed. Smiling and with positive energy, Heather introduced herself and spent some time with Gabbana to do the initial assessment. So far so good. Next test – introduce her to Monty. Fingers crossed (again). Monty came out of the truck and – oh, my! He’s Gabbana’s male doppelganger! Right away there was this immediate vibing interest in each other. Could it be love at first sight? Have these two been waiting for each other all of their lives? It was the perfect fit.

Call it fate, destiny, divine intervention, ‘meant to be’, coincidence, karma, the stars aligning, whatever. There are certain things that simply can’t be explained. In the brief time I knew Gabbana at the shelter, she became ‘my dog’. Finding Heather and Monty are nothing short of everything she deserves for the remainder of her life.

When I saw her jump into the truck to live her new best life, my heart was full.

If you’d like to help other pets on their journey to a better future, go to www.srasnj.org to donate (or to view our other wonderful pets!).

For more stories by the author click the name links below:

Little Shelter w/the Big Heart

Romeo

Boo