By Bernie Rice — When Georgie first arrived at the Seattle Animal Shelter in March, he had seen better days. The gorgeous pitbull-mix puppy was hit by a car and suffered from fractured ribs, scrapes, and bruises all over his body. He was in bad shape.
After all that trauma, Georgie was still a loving, happy pup who wanted to find his forever home. Georgie had surgery to fix his fractures and wounds, and after some healing, he went to a foster home for his final recovery before adoption.
Well, it was Georgie’s lucky day when Cindy walked into his life. And Cindy would say it was her lucky day too.
Georgie was Cindy’s first foster dog since her own lovable pup passed away in January. Cindy knew that when she took Georgie in to her home that–due to his injuries—he would need to avoid running around or jumping much. He needed to heal, after all, and jumping is not conducive to healing. Well, Georgie had different plans. He wasn’t trained as a puppy so he was constantly jumping on the furniture and running up to people to say hello, especially the mailman, who loved seeing Georgie.
Cindy was on a mission to train Georgie and prepare him for adoption. Cindy placed chairs 
on the sofa to keep him down. And even then, the little wiggle worm squeezed his way between the chairs to find a tiny place on the sofa to sit. The Seattle Animal Shelter Foundation sponsored Georgie and placed him in training classes. In Cindy’s own words, “he failed that class.”
Once Cindy was able to get into a routine with Georgie, he calmed down enough to wane any signs of separation anxiety. He needed a safe place of his own, and with Cindy’s consistent routine, he found his safe place. He became comfortable and loved playing with rope toys and Kong toys filled with treats. He would bring his toys into the kitchen, wanting Cindy to play if he felt he wasn’t getting enough attention. He was a loving, happy, playful boy.
Finally, Georgie was doing great and was ready for adoption at the end of April. He was a perfect candidate for adoption—he was still a puppy and was so loving—and was quickly headed home to his new family to start a new life. But there would be more changes ahead.
Sadly, a week after adoption, Georgie became very sick. The emergency vet ran multiple tests on Georgie and the costs were becoming too expensive for Georgie’s new family. They made the heart-wrenching decision to relinquish him back to the shelter. Georgie was diagnosed with Polyarthritis, and has since made a full recovery. The cause of Polyarthritis is unknown.
After Georgie was given a clean bill of health by the Seattle Animal Shelter veterinarians, he was promptly adopted by his new family, where he is enjoying life today. Georgie has already lived many lives in his young age. Luckily, there are people like Georgie’s adoption family who care enough to realize the full potential of shelter animals who live happy lives. The world is your oyster, Georgie!