GEORGIA ON MY MIND
Once down and out in Pickens County, one lucky dog is now flying high. Wendy Dunham tells her tale . . .
Abandoned and pregnant, Oreo came to Pickens Animal Rescue in the February of 2000. Someone in north Jasper found her in their back yard where she had obviously been dumped. The lady fed her and did what she could, but just couldn’t cope with a pregnant dog. She then called the Rescue.
Next to come to the aid of the soon-to-be mom was Mountain View Pet Lodge on Thrasher Road. Joyce DeLay, who runs the Lodge, had a spare pen in her yard and kindly offered the use of it. It was over-run with brambles and weeds, but when myself and another volunteer got together with a pair of shears and some gloves, Oreo soon had a lovely new home.
For the next few months volunteers took it in turns with Joyce to feed Oreo and take care of her new-borns. Oreo made a great mom, and her pups, all cute as a button, soon got homes. But trying to place little Oreo, named because she was black and white of course, proved much harder. Although she was a sweet girl, a typical lab-mix mutt, she was shy because of what had happened to her in the past. She was very affectionate to those who saw her regularly, but she mostly recoiled from strangers - not a great way to get adopted.
In the course of the next year she was given a chance by two families, but was returned on both occasions because she just wouldn’t open up, or simply because they were not the right people for her.
The Rescue had almost given up hope of Oreo ever finding a permanent home. But then something good happened. My husband works at Cherokee County Airport in Ball Ground, and I had always kept a poster up there advertising the Rescue. One day, almost a year exactly since Oreo was abandoned, a pilot called Steve from California, who was training at the airport, talked to me about the poster and asked if we had any dogs. He was a single guy and wanted a companion dog, one who would live with him, ride around in his car with him, and sit in the back of his plane when he flew.
I thought of Oreo straight away and asked if he’d like to see her. He said yes and I took him up to the Pet Lodge, where by now Oreo was very much a part of the furniture! I kept my fingers crossed that she wouldn’t shy away from him, popped her in the car with my two dogs, and we all drove back to the airport. She was so animated being with my pair that there was no sign of shyness, and Steve was delighted with her. I fully briefed him on her history and he said that he would be patient with her until she came around.
Six months later Oreo, now renamed Georgia after the state where she was found, has a wonderful new home and loving dad. I see her often, as whenever Steve comes in for training he brings his new best friend with him. She took a while to trust him he told me, but now they are inseparable. Better still, she loves to fly! Steve recently flew his plane back to California and Georgia went along for the ride. He said she did great in the plane: “She slept a lot but she got to see many different places and meet a lot of new people. My family loved her.”
After he finishes his training Steve will head off back to California to live, taking Georgia with him of course. Sadly I won’t get to see her any more, but when I think how we all worried about her finding a good home, I can only smile.