Marie and her family decided they wanted to adopt a companion for their Boxer-girl, Harlow, but were having a very hard time finding the right match.
When Marie spied Coco on SGVHS’ Instagram page, her heart broke for him because he had been in the shelter for nearly two years. Marie was at first intimidated by Coco’s look. He was very large and his eyes looked very intense to her. After seeing more video posts with Coco, and seeing how friendly he looked, Marie decided to go meet him.
The first trip to the shelter was overwhelming. All the dogs were barking and Coco was distracted and didn’t pay much attention to Marie in the meet and greet yard. He smelled her a few times, but moved on, uninterested.
The second trip, with 8 year old daughter and Boxer-girl Harlow in tow was a completely different story. As Marie approached Coco’s kennel, he immediately stopped jumping and barking to simply quiet down and look directly into Marie’s eyes. It was as if he remembered her from their brief encounter before.
During the second meet and greet, Coco leaned against Marie’s leg several times, sat for treats and was very gentle with her daughter and Harlow. Marie knew then she had to make Coco a part of their family.
Marie and and her family’s lives have become so full since bringing Coco home. Harlow is so happy to have a friend and their daughter is learning so much about empathy, compassion, acceptance and tolerance. Coco loves his bed and also loves to snuggle with Marie and his blanket early in the morning. They have learned one of his quirks is he doesn’t like going outside in the cold and he buries himself under blankets and tries to hide to avoid it! Not so easy for an 82 pound dog! They are definitely all one big happy, silly family with Coco on board.
