RESCUE TAILS / RUBBLE FINDS THE PERFECT MATCH

By Cathy Baier

Behavior Program Manager/ Florida Keys SPCA

“Those who play together stay together.” That’s good advice for couples wanting a long and happy marriage. It’s also good advice for a long and happy relationship with a dog!

Just like Match.com seeks to bring together like-minded people with compatible goals and lifestyles, our adoption process works to do the same. And like Match, physical appearance might be the first thing that attracts, but then the matchmaking really begins.

What do you like to do? How do you spend your free time? What are your deal-breakers in a relationship? All of these are questions that need to be considered when choosing a partner, no matter how many legs they might have. While looks might be a driving force in the beginning, it’s our job to help you find the right dog for your lifestyle. While we do our best, sometimes it takes a few tries to get it right.

We first met Rubble in early 2019 when he came in as a stray to our Marathon shelter. Handsome and friendly, he got adopted fairly quickly to a young family. The hope was that living with an active family would meet his needs, but he proved to be too much and was back at the shelter within a few months, this time to the Key West campus.

Rubble was tough! Not mean-dog-tough, just adolescent smart-strong-no manners-tough. He liked to throw his weight around, he liked to use his teeth, and he liked to have something to do all the time. Tons of potential but all flowing in the wrong directions. Not an uncommon type of dog seen in shelters. These are the poor unfortunates who never got the right kind of help as puppies to learn how to navigate our crazy human world. There is nothing wrong with these young dogs that time, patience, consistency, and appropriate guidance can’t fix but they also need a full life that uses both brain and body. Rubble needed all this big time!

We worked on his manners and he improved enough to get adopted again. But this time, through no fault of his own, he ended up back in the shelter when his adopter had to go into the hospital. Getting bounced around like this takes a toll on an animal and keeping Rubble sane was a challenge. We continued to help him with his manners training while he waited for his third home. Then one day, the right person walked through the door. 

Ross was friends with a previous adopter and they stopped in to see the dogs. Rubble immediately caught Ross’s attention and a meet ‘n greet convinced him that this was the dog he had been looking for. Ross was just what Rubble needed. He was kind and smart and his active life-style, both on the water and on land, were the perfect fit for Rubble. The adoption was an easy decision for all of us!

It wasn’t long before the updates started coming and our hearts swelled with happiness when we saw the life Rubble now had. If that “play together, stay together” adage is true, it looks like Ross and Rubble have both found their perfect match!

Maybe the perfect match is waiting at the shelter for you, too! Come visit us in Key West or Marathon and speak with to one of our match-making specialists.

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