In February of this year my wife Mary and I adopted Mavis. Mavis was born in March of 2000. She was given up by her first family in 2001. I don’t know the history of her first owner but I do know that Mavis was adopted by her second family in 2001. They kept her until January of 2005. I can’t imagine how anyone could give up such a sweet girl after having her for that length of time. They dropped her at a shelter in New Jersey. The form states that she was regressing due to the owner not giving her enough time. Mavis was adopted immediately, but of course they didn’t understand the needs of a Wheaten and returned her to the shelter after two weeks. The reason given was “too wheaten”. The second time Mavis was dropped at the shelter someone who works there contacted WIN (finally!) A WIN volunteer (Jean Kuhn) picked her up at the shelter and she was fostered by Mike and Tracy Robbins. They reported that she was worming her way into their hearts.  

I’ve been a dog nut my whole life. My Shepard mutt “Tonto” that I had in the late eighties and the early nineties was a sweetie. He was an older dog who had lived on the streets as a stray until a friend of mine found him. After he passed away I didn’t think I’d love another pooch. Mary and I married in 1994 and she suffers from pet dander allergies. It seemed that we were destined to be dog free.   

Mary and I lived in Pittsburgh. January 2004 I took a job in Washington DC which required me to stay in a corporate apartment and travel home on weekends. After a year of this Mary decided that I needed a companion, and started to research dogs which some people with allergies are not bothered by. My sister is a meter reader for the water company and a dog lover. Reading meters for 18 years allows you to meet a lot of dogs and she is a fan of wheatens and suggested that we check them out. This is how we learned of Soft coated Wheatens, and particularly WIN. 

Mary visited with Jan and Terry Griffith in Pittsburgh to see how she was with wheatens. The stars aligned and the good people of WIN thought Mary and I would be a good fit with Mavis.  

After many conversations between Mary in Pittsburgh, myself in DC, Pat Simrell in Maryland, Tracy in New Jersey, it was decided that I would meet Tracy’s husband Mike at a gas station off an exit of the New Jersey turnpike. I met Mike and Mavis and she seemed sweet right off the bat. Although she was a little confused at first, we became fast friends by the time we got back to DC. She is a little quieter than most “softies” I’ve met so far. She loves to travel which was very important to us. She likes everybody and everything (cats included) that she meets. She has been through a lot and still has a lot of love in her heart. Mary and I decided that her new start deserved a new name. Bridget seemed to fit her, so Bridget she is. Bridget has found her forever home and I am in love with a dog again.  

The post log is that Mary and I sold our house in Pittsburgh and she moved down to be with Bridget and I full time the beginning of August. The end of August I was promoted and transferred to Baltimore. We are closing on a new house outside of Baltimore four days after Christmas. Bridget will have a nice fenced yard to run in.

Thank all of you in WIN. We appreciate everything you folks have done for us including a lot of great wheaten advice. We are fostering Trixie from Pittsburgh now. She is yet another sweet little girl who deserves a forever home of her own.