Smaller Indiana helps dog find new home

[Doug Theis]

A few weeks ago my family and I had to make the tough decision to put one of our long-time pets down. Our cat George had become sick and there was no hope. While it was a sad, it was time, and it was the only humane thing to do.

Shortly thereafter, Scott Abel, The Content Wrangler, blogged on Smaller Indiana that his dog, a seven year old female black Lab mix named Bailey, needed a new home. Scott was moving to Palm Springs and had made the tough decision not to take his pet of five years along with him.

Bailey, as orginally posted by Scott Abel

I saw Scott's post on Smaller Indiana and gave him a call. Scott had interviewed me about data centers this spring, so we already knew each other. He told me a little more about his situation. My wife Teresa and I decided to take our five year old female black Lab mix, Cricket, up to Scott's house to see how the dogs did together.

Cricket, sitting beside our late cat, George

Cricket and Bailey seemed to hit it off. They look alike. They ran around in Scott's back yard, they sniffed each other, and they didn't fight. Teresa and I headed home, talked it over, and decided to see if Scott would let us take Bailey home to our turf and see how she reacted.

We brought Bailey home on a Friday evening and kept her until Saturday afternoon. We let the dogs play, eat and sleep together. We walked them on our normal two-mile loop, and on the second mile, we walked them side by side on a single leash. It went very well. After we took Bailey home, we talked over the idea of keeping Bailey with our two children, and decided that we wanted to make her part of our family.

Cricket and Bailey hangin' out

Bailey's been with us for four days now, and she and Cricket are doing well together. We're glad to have a new family member, and we're glad that Smaller Indiana helped us find her.

[Hazel "The Queen" Walker]

What a beautiful pair! Great story of how networking works. One of the things I love about SI over any of the other platforms I am on...........I have the ability to meet the people on this site. The first time I sat down with Kyle Lacy I told him it was as if I had known him for sometime.

Thanks for the story Doug.

[Scott Abel]

Thanks, Doug. I'm glad we were able to connect on Smaller Indiana for both business and personal reasons. Far too often, people don't "get the bigger picture" when talking about social media. When most effective, social networks like SI provide their members with new and exciting ways to connect with those they already know and provide new avenues for meeting new folks.

When I made the decision to try and find Bailey a new home, I knew it might be a challenge. I spoke with dozens of folks who had similar experiences. Each had good ideas for finding a new family for Bailey -- flyers in coffee shops, phoning friends and relatives, notices in the local papers, and assistance from neighborhood vets, pet supply stores and groomers. But, when it came time to act, I decided to try posting to SI. And, I'm glad I did. I was able to find a family that would love and care for Bailey the way I would, if I could.

So, thanks to SI and the power of social media. While there are many business reasons for utilizing social networks, there are myriad personal ones as well.

Thanks for posting this story and for taking time to introduce Bailey to your family. I hope Cricket and Bailey have loads of fun together and that they bring your family much joy.

Scott

[Pat Van Selow]

My son also has a female black lab named Bailey (twelve years old) who tolerates the loving hugs of a one year old baby boy. Labs are the greatest family pets!

[Rae Kridel]

Doug, that's one of the coolest things I've read on SI.