An amazing community of animal advocates helped Troy and me find each other. I had lost my dog of fifteen years, Bonnie, to complications from a spleen tumor in 2016. Her loss was hard. By early 2018, I was finally ready to welcome another dog into my life. I began looking at the online listings of available dogs at Austin Pets Alive! and Austin Animal Center. I wanted another female hound mix, medium to small, probably two to three years old, and great with people and other dogs. It felt a bit like online dating, only much more adorable!

And then I saw Troy. The talented Jenn Olohan was featuring Troy on Austin Animals Center's social media in a series she tagged #tuesdayswithtroy. Troy had been in the shelter system since September 2016, with one short break for an adoption that sadly did not work out. By the time I fell in love with his photos, Troy had been in foster for nearly ten months! His foster mom, animal advocate extraordinaire Katy Fendrich, has fostered more than thirty dogs and described Troy as the best-behaved foster she’d ever had. Despite the fact that Troy was not at all what I was looking for (that is, not a young, medium-sized female hound mix but an eight-year-old, eighty-nine-pound male pittie) we met at Katy's. He won me over immediately with his gentle demeanor, deep, kind eyes, and goofy doggie grin. It couldn't be this easy, could it?

When I took him in as a foster to see how we would get along, I became more aware of Troy’s support network. The AAC-affiliated programs Classic Canines and Hard Luck Hounds (especially Katie Gentempo) helped us with transition costs including Troy's prescription diet, medications, flea/heartworm prevention, and adoption fee. HLH even paid for an allergy evaluation with Dr. Adam Lassin of Paz Veterinary, who generously offered a special rate for rescue animals. AAC's adult-dog foster program, under Lorian Epstein, also supported Troy's care and gave us training vouchers to address Troy's distressing habit of lying down in the street mid-walk! Erica Ashkenazi of South Austin Dog Center worked with us to address this, also offering a reduced rate for fosters and rescue dogs. Everyone came together to make sure we had the best possible start. What was supposed to be a weekend test foster turned into an adoption within a month.

I couldn't be happier with this sweet, affectionate dog who loves to come to work with me, play with his ever-growing collection of toys, request (and receive!) his duly earned allergy-safe green-bean and veggie treats, nap by my side, and go for long walks where we meditate on the state of canine and human affairs in silent solidarity. (He isn't much of a talker.)

Troy reached me because of the work of all of these advocates who shared his story and made sure he was happy and healthy until he found his forever home. I am so grateful to all of them!