Boomer's first slumber party
If every storm cloud has a silver lining, what about a series of storm clouds that dump enough snow to keep you from reaching your destination? In the case of Kelle Bruckman of Los Angeles, California, she found the love of her life in the mist of those clouds.
Kelle and her husband Rick were visiting Best Friends for the first time in December, 2008. This past winter, the snows were deep enough at the sanctuary that several of the roads were hard to travel. And since Rick and Kelle arrived in their motor home, they weren’t able to reach about half of the sanctuary. This limited what they could see and do, but it turned out to be the best thing that could have happened to them.
Since they were only able to see the easy-access parts, they pulled into the clinic at Dogtown and asked to volunteer and do a dog sleepover. When the caregivers asked Rick and Kelle which dog they wanted, Kelle replied by asking them a question right back. She wanted to know who didn’t go on sleepovers very often. Kelle had been to the Best Friends website but couldn’t pick any one dog over another. So she wanted to help a dog who wasn’t as popular.
The staffers came up with Boomer, a dog who has been at Best Friends for years and yet never had a sleepover. Why has nobody picked him before? Don’t ask Kelle, because she can’t begin to understand it!
She and Rick agreed to be Boomer’s first sleepover. Kelle fell hard and fast for this dog, calling that sleepover one of the best nights of her life. In the beginning, Boomer was a bit nervous going inside a motor home. After all, he’d come from a hoarding situation where he didn’t get much attention or any indoor time. This was his first real stint at being in a home environment.
But it didn’t take long for things to click. After giving Boomer a quick tour of the motor home, Kelle pulled out the grooming brush. That was all it took. He melted into the brushing and became her new soulmate. He even slept on the bed. You might think a connection like that would end in adoption. In a perfect world, yeah, it would. But Kelle and Rick have a nine-pound Pomeranian who threw a gigantic wrench in the gears. That dog, Rick and Kelle are convinced, would never allow Boomer to join the family.
Still, that hasn’t stopped Kelle from trying to help. Finding a home for Boomer has become her obsession. Her friends even tease her on occasion about how focused she is on finding this boy a family. Her response? "OK, then. Give him a home so I’ll stop talking about it!" With that kind of dedication going for him, Boomer is sure to luck out sooner than later!
Kelle has already returned to Best Friends a second time, enjoying sleepovers with Boomer each night. She also has two more trips planned in the coming months. On every one of them she’s going to keep trying to find Boomer a home. He’s such a sweet dog, too. If you have any doubts, just check out their to see his snuggle skills first hand!
Photo by Sarah Ause