Update received August 2010:Although we adopted Indy mid-July, she came into our lives in May, when she was first added to Petfinder.com.com. My boyfriend, Joe, and I were waiting for our offer on a short-sale townhome to go through and were not in a position to get a dog but when I saw Indy's ad, it was love at first sight. The purchase was drawn out but in late June we finally heard back and after a few weeks of utter chaos, the house was finally ours. Only then did we find out that the home association did not allow dogs over 25 pounds. I was shattered, as Indy was, amazingly, still available for adoption!

With Joe's support, I decided to pursue Indy anyway, hoping that the board might make an exception for such a great dog. I also mentioned in our letter of appeal that I intended to take her through therapy training so that we could volunteer together at local nursing homes and hospitals. I'm entering graduate nursing school this fall and currently work at a nursing home -- I love to see how my residents react when people bring dogs in to visit and can't wait to help spread that comfort and joy to residents and patients with my own dog. On a wonderful Friday afternoon, word finally came through that the board had waived the 25 pound limit and we could bring Indy home.

Although I kept telling myself I had built her up in my mind and to realize that no dog could ever live up to those expectations, she actually managed to exceed all my dreams. Her beautiful little face was ten times more arresting in person and when we got in the car to drive home she jumped into my lap, curled up and fell fast asleep for the hour-long ride. Our hearts melted, and it really seemed as though Indy knew she was going home.

We've had Indy for a little over two weeks now and she is doing phenomenally well. We're getting to know all the neighbors and dogs in our area on our daily walks, she has become best buds with my sister's and parents' dogs, and we will be starting obedience class this week (I'm already certain she will be at the top of her class). We will follow that up with therapy dog training, and as soon as we are ready will be sharing Indy's love and comfort with the residents at the nursing home where I work, and at other local long term care facilities and acute care centers.

We can't thank RLRR and All Dog Rescue enough -- Indy has already become an integral part of our family, our loved and cherished fur-baby. We're so grateful that RLRR rescued her and that she was so well taken care of and loved by Shelley's family until she finally found her way home.