Phoenix

The Supremes taught us that “You Can’t Hurry Love,” and that holds true for adoptions as well - some adoptions can’t be hurried, because if it means matching each dog with the right adopter, that’s just fine.

In March, we shared Phoenix’s story with the TLC community. He had arrived in Pennsylvania in February from a horrible hoarding situation. When he was first rescued, he was skinny, covered in mange, and unsure of what it meant to be cared for; this sweet senior had a long road ahead of him. Eventually, he made enough progress to make the trip north to TLC. While he was a changed dog from the day he was found, he was still shy, unsure of new people, and easily startled by quick movements. Luckily, his foster dad was happy to put in the work to help Phoenix be his best dog self.

By April, his foster believed he’d earned “about 90%” of Phoenix’s trust - a huge accomplishment - and while Phoenix was still cautious of new people, he showed great interest in other dogs. More importantly, the presence of other dogs helped to break down Phoenix’s walls just a little bit around new people.

Eventually, Phoenix and his foster began making weekly trips to TLC’s adoption center to interact with different people and dogs; with each visit, Phoenix became increasingly relaxed and comfortable with new people. He was ready - he just needed an adopter to see all of the amazing things he had to offer.

Phoenix’s day came on June 8 - 123 days after his arrival - when he was adopted by a previous TLC adopter and joined his fur brother, Bodhi. As the Supremes advised, he trusted, gave it time, and that brought Phoenix (now Fred) to a love, and a family, to call his own.