From the moment he was adopted as a young puppy, Smokey was spoiled with an assortment of toys. Yet, out of all the options, one stuffed elephant with oversized ears quickly became his cherished favorite. Though he could have easily torn it apart in no time, Smokey was surprisingly gentle with his plush friend. He carried it on walks, snuggled with it at bedtime, and treated it with a tender care that melted his family’s hearts.
Smokey’s life took a heartbreaking turn when his owner lost his job, putting the family in a difficult financial situation. Despite downsizing their home, they struggled to make ends meet, and even keeping Smokey fed became a challenge. They reached out to friends and family, hoping someone could give him a good home, but as a large dog, he was difficult for others to accommodate.
As they faced the reality of losing their home, they made every effort to find Smokey a new place, but no one was able to take him in. In the end, they made the heart-wrenching decision to surrender him to a shelter, leaving him with his beloved stuffed elephant. Saying goodbye was incredibly painful, and they parted with heavy hearts.
For Smokey, the separation was devastating. Alone in an unfamiliar environment, he was gripped by anxiety, having lost everything he’d known and loved. Once an energetic, joyful dog, he now withdrew, barely acknowledging the shelter volunteers. Day after day, he lay curled up in the corner of his crate, holding onto his stuffed elephant, the last remnant of the life he had left behind.
The shelter scrambled to get him adopted as soon as they possibly could as accommodations for intaking animals were extremely limited. The photos of him with his elephant drew attention from potential adopters, and the shelter was extremely hopeful that he would be adopted soon.
But every time a family came to see if they connected with him, he would hide in the corner. When they tried to approach him, he was so scared that he would growl. Since he started to show signs of aggression, the shelter was forced to take him off the list of “adoptable dogs.” Unfortunately, this essentially put him on death row, and he was headed towards being put down.
The shelter didn’t have the space or ability to accommodate a dog that they couldn’t get adopted. So the date was set. He had to be adopted by then or he would be euthanized. But the shelter wasn’t going to give-up. They didn’t want Smokey to die.
So they started to search for other rescues that could take Smokey. They knew he would do so much better out of a stressful shelter environment. Thankfully, I Have A Dream rescue organization swooped in at the nick of time to save him. They promised that they would find him the perfect foster, and that they were willing to be incredibly patient to find him the forever family of his dreams.
As soon as he moved in with a foster family, everything changed. All the stress he was feeling in the shelter seemed to melt away. Suddenly, he had so much energy and was willing to play. Much earlier than they expected, the rescue decided to make him available for adoption again.
But first, they wanted to reach out to his former family and see if they were able to take care of him again. Unfortunately, they still weren’t in a fitting financial position to take him back. They were just so grateful that he was saved from being put down and that he would be able to live a lovely life.
The pictures of him clutching his beloved stuffed elephant made him very popular on social media. So it wasn’t long after he was officially up for adoption that Smokey, with his favorite stuffed toy in tow, found himself a wonderful new forever family.
See Smokey’s heartfelt story of hope below.
Featured Image: YouTube
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