An emotional experience that ultimately brought Athena home with us…read more
My wife and I are a little conflicted about how to review LPCHS because our experience had a pretty significant bump in the road before ultimately becoming one of the best adoption experiences we could have asked for.
First, the thrift store is absolutely worth mentioning. It helps support the shelter next door, and we've found some phenomenal deals every time we've visited. On our most recent trip, my son found a Nike hat that looked brand new for only $5. We also regularly look through the books and can usually leave with a pile for less than $10.
Then there's the shelter.
We originally went in simply wanting to see some of the dogs. After walking through a couple of the kennels, we met Athena, a 7-year-old Boxer who had recently lost her owner and had also been returned after an incident involving a cat in her new home.
Something about Athena immediately felt different. We continued through the kennels and saw plenty of other healthy, happy-looking animals, but we couldn't shake the feeling that Athena was meant to come home with us.
We went to the front counter, explained our home situation, and mentioned that we have an outdoor cat.
That's where things initially went sideways.
We were told that having a cat immediately disqualified us from adopting Athena. There wasn't much discussion beyond that. After feeling like we had potentially just found a new member of our family, hearing that we couldn't adopt her because we had a cat was honestly heartbreaking.
We've previously owned two Boxers, so we weren't unfamiliar with the breed or the responsibility involved. We also felt like we never really had the opportunity to discuss the circumstances of Athena's previous adoption or explain how our home is set up.
We left pretty disappointed.
But after lunch, we decided to go back. I spoke with another staff member because I wanted to understand what had actually happened with Athena and the cat in her previous home. That conversation was completely different. I learned more about the circumstances and explained that our cat lives in an outdoor space with clear escape routes and that we understood the importance of introducing Athena and our cat in a controlled environment.
Instead of simply saying no, the conversation turned into, "Let's evaluate this."
Liz, the manager working that day, helped us schedule an appointment with a behaviorist so we could actually see Athena around a cat and better understand what we would be taking on.
That evaluation changed everything.
Athena's interaction with the cat was far less concerning than we had initially imagined. She was able to disengage, and it didn't appear to us that her behavior was malicious. It became easier to understand how a previous interaction in an uncontrolled environment could have escalated.
We were then able to introduce Athena to our kids in another controlled environment. The shelter has a really nice, well-maintained play yard with turf, rocks, boulders, and toys where the dogs can interact with families.
Aiden, the behaviorist, was fantastic. He was extremely knowledgeable, friendly, and patient while explaining Athena's temperament, what to watch for, potential concerns, and what we needed to understand about adopting a 7-year-old Boxer who needed a loving home for her senior years.
One thing that really stood out was how willing the staff were to put the animals first. They even allowed us to use their "boardroom"/lunchroom area to conduct the cat evaluation while staff were eating and taking their breaks. They could have easily said it wasn't a good time, but instead they shared their space because it was important for Athena's adoption process.
And after all of that...
We adopted Athena.
She came home with us, and within her very first night, she was already making herself comfortable. We couldn't be happier with how the introduction has gone so far, and we're incredibly excited to give her the loving home she deserves.
They even sent her home with an adoption-day cake dog toy, along with a certificate for a bag of food we could pick up at Pet Haus down the road.
So yes, our first interaction with the shelter left us frustrated and heartbroken. I don't want to pretend that part didn't happen.
But what ultimately matters is that we came back, asked more questions, and the staff were willing to listen, reevaluate the situation, involve behavioral expertise, and give Athena the opportunity to find the right home.
And now that home is ours.
Welcome to the family, Athena.
LPCHS, thank you for helping us find her and, more importantly, for ultimately being willing to look at the individual situation rather than just the circumstances on paper.
