Tango's Adoption

As previously mentioned in this post, we brought Tango home to be a part of our family Wednesday, July 18th. We had decided it was time to add a furbaby into the McGugan family, and we therefore pursued the best route to make that happen. We knew we wanted to adopt a dog in need, so Mr. McGoo began the work of finding some places for us to go.

We found a pup online through PetFinder that peaked our interest, he was a yellow lab about three months old and was at the Memphis Animal Shelter with the nickname, Lover Boy. So we took a trip to the shelter to and go and see.

Mr. McGoo warned me before we walked in that this process might be hard and I would "need to be ready" for what I was going to see. I did not understand what he meant until we began the walk through and saw cage after cage of adorable animals scared, alone, and in a cold environment of metal cages everywhere. My heart ached, but I worked hard to be as objective as possible, knowing we would only take one and it was important to be comfortable with how this one might react with our current furbaby, Dexter.

We walked through all of the dogs, no Lover Boy to be found, but many adorable pups and a set of 5 puppies impressed me the most. Apparently, their owner had "released" them the night before to the shelter along with the mom and dad. Mom and dad were in one cage and the pups were in another cage together. Mom was a shepherd and dad was mutt with a boxer build but his head did not look like a boxer. I loved that I could see mom and dad - knowing their size and getting to experience their temperament a bit. I chose to visit with one of the male puppies... he was the darkest of the pups with a black tip to his tail and snout, he had the biggest belly of the bunch and allowed all 4 of his siblings to crawl, chew, and walk all over him. I knew he was perfect. We played with him for a bit and left because the shelter was closing with a big decision to make...

Was it really time? Were we prepared for the changes a puppy would bring? Were we ready to give the time it deserved? Would Dexter be okay?

Ultimately we decided YES, and Mr. McGoo went to pursue to make this puppy our own. I already had a name in mind - - - SAMSON!

To those who have not heard this story, this may surprise you... yup, our original pursuit was not Tango, in fact it was his only brother, Samson. I never knew that Tango existed at this point. The next day Mr. McGoo made his way to the Memphis Animal Shelter and visited with Samson once more, affirming that yes, he should be ours. He filled out the necessary paperwork, paid the funds, and officially adopted him... we would be able to pick him up in a few days following his neutering.

A couple days later, while at work, I received a call from Mr. McGoo - with excitement I answered believing he was calling to inform me that Samson was in his possession. Instead, he broke the sad news to me that our little guy did not wake from surgery. Samson would not be coming home with us and a decision needed to be made... what now?

After much discussion, following some tears on my part, we decided the best way to honor Samson was to give one of his siblings a good home. I left the task up to Mr. McGoo, feeling heart broken over Samson... I told him I did not want to see the dog or talk names until he or she was home in our possession. I could not chance being heart broken again so soon.

A few days later, I was introduced to this little guy and Mr. McGoo perfectly named him... TANGO! He has been dancing around our house ever since...