Smokey was 11-months old when he was surrendered by his family to us in January 2001. The family was having problems and did not have enough time for this young dog. He was not socialized and he was fearful of new people and dogs. He was also spending most of his days tied out in the yard ... alone.

He was a friendly dog and just did not know how to interact with people and situations. So, we started to work with him to socialize and prepare him for his new 'forever' family. Our intent was to place him (as we already had 4 dogs) and we had a very nice family interested in him. About two weeks after his arrival, we placed Smokey in a new home. But, the family suddenly had a major illness to deal with and we took Smokey back.

It was during this time that we discovered Smokey had sound sensitivity to certain noises and this greatly impacted his training. If he was scared by something, he would jump and leave the area and he was very unsure of what to do. It was at that point, that we knew Smokey would be staying with us.

Now, almost two years later, Smokey has settled in very nicely with our family. His sound sensitivity has greatly improved. He will celebrate his 3rd birthday on February 3, 2004 and is a cute little "Schmoo". He is bright and a bit mischieveous, with that twinkle in his eye that lets you know he is up to something playful. He lives with Tasha and Jazzy (an older rescued Samoyed), Sugar a young Whippet mix and he is the youngest of our 'wacky boys' and always enjoys a rousing game of chase with Player our Belgian Sheepdog and Kyser.

Smokey has now completed several "Good Manners" obedience classes and three agility classes, as well as a weekend long tracking seminar. Of our three younger male dogs, he is the best tracker, exhibiting a natural scenting talent. He recently completed a CGC / TDI class and passed the final exam.

He is now Smokey, CGC, TDI.

Little did we know, when Smokey came to us on that day in January 2002, he was already in his "forever" home. Love works in mysterious ways sometimes and we are so very glad it does.