Here is a little bit of Charlie's history:
Charlie's early life is very much
unknown. However on June 5th, 2012, he was picked up as a stray and
taken to the shelter from the Civic Center Park area of Berkeley. According to
Local law enforcement, it’s an area known for drug dealing. While in the care
of Berkley Animal Care services, he was
fully vaccinated and micro-chipped. He had some bumps on his belly, and the veterinary
staff put him on meds for 21 days. The Vet checked him out again on 7/27 where
he was given a good prognosis. They thought it was some kind of allergy or
contact dermatitis. Charlie waited to be adopted by
someone at the Berkley city shelter for 3 months. He was scheduled to be
euthanized on September 4. Volunteers there loved him so much and recognized
what a wonderful dog he was, and immediately started networking to find him a
home or foster. Karen Teague, foster coordinator for Chako, picked up the message
and re-posted on Facebook.
Shortly after returning from their
honeymoon, Dan and Audrey Kelm volunteered to provide a Foster home for Charlie
if he could just pass his behavior evaluation. One of their dogs was finally
recovered from having both ACL’s being repaired. Dan and Audrey had previously
fostered Tyson for Chako until he found a new forever home. They had really
bonded with Tyson, and felt the process was so rewarding, that they wanted to
do it again. So when Karen re-posted on Facebook that Charlie was scheduled to
be put down, they immediately stepped up to help this special guy.
Once Karen had foster parents, she
sprung into action and coordinated everything. Nick, a volunteer in Berkeley,
graciously offered to drive Charlie up to Sacramento. His status as a
"Chako dog" entirely depended on him passing a Behavior Evaluation
upon arrival in Sacramento. Should he fail, he would have returned to Berkeley
and be euthanized that night. Nick made the journey on September 4, E-day for
Charlie, in the evening. Dan and Audrey anxiously waited at their home to hear
how the evaluation went. Charlie passed all of tests with flying colors but for
one--the "bum" test. Charlie did not want anything to do with Dawn Capp,
the founder of Chako, who dresses herself in a trench coat and holding a broom
as part of this ‘Bum Test’. He shied away and sought comfort from another
nearby volunteer. Audrey says, “To be fair, I would do the same thing!” Because
he didn't react aggressively, Dawn made the decision to pass him because he was
so good with the other tests. So, on September 4 at around 9:00 p.m., Charlie
was delivered to Dan and Audrey’s home.
For two months, Charlie lived with Dan
and Audrey who have 2 male dogs of their own. One blue-nose pit (Remington),
and the other is...well...a mutt (Bosworth), possibly a beagle/dalmation mix.
Charlie's introduction couldn't have gone smoother! Remi and Charlie were
immediate bff's and Boz tolerated him just fine. As the weeks went by, all the
boys grew closer and Charlie easily fell into their routine. He even started to
learn some of their tricks for cookies! Charlie even eventually won Boz over as
a playmate. Audrey says “He is just so charming! Dan and I love Charlie so much
and vowed to be very selective with his forever home. He is such a happy boy
with so much love to give! We are so thrilled that he is finding his happily
ever after in your home and know he will get all the love, playtime and family
that he deserves!”
Dan and Audrey also wrote that: “Charlie
adores playing tug of war, especially with ropes.” Our dog Rosie does love to
play tug, but Charlie, these first couple of days seems a little timid about it
because Rosie is so vocal. The Kelm’s also reported that “… pretty much
anything that squeaks will warrant a play session for him!”
One interesting story that Audrey
shared with us was that she was talking to a friend who knows Charlie's story
and Audrey and the friend found it so interesting how he chose our home too.
The first couple that came to meet and greet him, he was just not feeling it.
He wouldn't leave the Kelm’s front door until they took their other dogs out to
play. And then he still had no interest in this couple. They put the other dogs
back in the house after wearing them all out enough and then Charlie mostly
just stayed by Audrey, really didn't want to be pet by them, almost as if he
was saying, "Are they going to leave soon so we can get back to our
evening?!" Audrey said after our initial meet and greet, “Seeing him climb
up in your laps and give you guys kisses was a complete 180
difference!!!”
We
met Charlie on November 4th at the Pell street overpass. Rosie met
five candidates, Aengus; Bolt, Charlie, Auzzie, Blue. Clearly, the dog that
Rosie got along with the best was Charlie. They both greeted each other. Carol
and I agreed, as well as Dawn and Shannon, that Charlie was the best fit. The
rest as you can see from later in this post as well as many posts from this
point afterwards, are history!
Well, we have a wonderful story to share with you all! So Charlies foster parents told us that when they leave the house with the dogs un-attended, they put Charlie in a wire crate. Well, when we first got Rosie, that's what we did as well. She didn't like it at all and escaped just about everytime we put her in there. She must have some trauma associated with it. Here is a picture of the one time she didn't escape and we came home to find the fall-out.
At any rate, I went to go get lunch. I was only going to be gone for an hour, just to get him use to us not being there and the routine behind it. Well, once I put him in the crate, Rosie laid down on the couch right next to him. Wasn't quite sure what it meant, but I had a guess. Well, I went to lunch and make a couple of other quick stops and returned home about an hour and half later. Well, normally, Rosie would be on the dash waiting for us when we got home, but I thought it interesting that she wasn't. I came into the Motorhome to find Rosie laying in the exact same place as she was in when I left an hour and half earlier! So very cool.
At any rate, here is a video of Charlies first full day living with us!
Enjoy!
Happy Camping! Eric and Carol
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