MAY 5, 2022
I’ve had my feelers out for shelter dogs in need of emotional rehab and went out to meet two “broken” canines who need a little more help than the average foster. Hooch is the only one who showed up, which made it a cinch to know who was to be Jax’s first mentor assignment!
Hooch is very well versed in dog, but is wary of humans; far too fearful to meet me alone, I discovered, even with liver treats. I assumed as much, and that’s why I had Jax in the car.
Jax, always delighted to be of service, gave me instant street cred when we entered the room together. He greeted the new friend promptly and appropriately, schmoozed the humans, and then buried his snoot in the toy bin. His silly and playful energy lightened the room, and Hooch trepidatiously decided to leave the shelter and walk with us.
Jax is in. Lenny and Ellen are in, but I’m only provisional. Hooch needs time to decompress, to learn the norms of Crazy Town, to find himself here. He needs the space to decide to trust me on his own terms.
Inside the house, I’m giving him what he wants. He gets to be invisible and strictly observe me unless he initiates contact, which has been twice so far this morning with sniffs and licks! Hooch is testing me. He sees I respect him and that there *could* be safety in my space, and he’s curious about it! He’ll tell me when he’s ready for me to enter his.
MAY 6, 2022
Hooch made some decisions that inspired his tail to leave his butt. 
https://fb.watch/nNapGdfm9B/
MAY 8, 2022
Hooch has leveled up to watchdog. Slowly … surely … he’s finding his way back to himself. The resilience of his spirit inspires me.
You’re doing great, Hooch!!!
MAY 12, 2022
In just a little over one week’s time, the pack has convinced Hooch that he is so cool, he should join!
Now he’s figuring out his role and how to greet me. Should he bring a toy like Ellen does? Or should he just come for love?
Oh, Hooch! I love you!!
MAY 23, 2022
To most, these are merely pictures of a sleeping dog, but what I see is Hooch letting go. Every canine comes around on their own timeline, but the first big, floppy jowl slumber is always indicative of a turning point.
Hooch snores anywhere now, has found his spot in Rio’s bed right next to me, and last night …. he conked out upside down!
Go, Hooch, go!
JUNE 10, 2022
VIDEO UPDATE
JUNE 24, 2022
If you want to know what makes me giggly and proud, it’s watching my bottle baby grow up to teach Hooch to play.
JULY 1, 2022
So proud of Hooch! He left every bit of his comfort zone behind, got in the car, and went to the dog park this morning!
JULY 5, 2022
No one cared about the fireworks. Not even Hooch.
JULY 28, 2022
Now I know why Elba’s been escaping. She needs to snuggle with Hooch!
AUGUST 1, 2022
My favorite part of the day is the beginning, searching out good swimming holes with my best friends while the sun rises above us.
Hooch is doing so well and I adore him. He isn’t sure about swimming like Ellen and Jax, but he loves that the once scary car transports him to a magical place. There are no worries in the woods. It’s where all the souls can be free.
Lenny could not attend this morning because the grass was wet and he “just couldn’t today.”
AUGUST 2, 2022
All the babies love Hooch because he’s gentle. I love him because he’s Hooch!!
AUGUST 6, 2022
Hooch: “HOWWWW many times do I have to tell you? I love you, but I am NOT your long lost dad.
Elba: “but….we match!”
Hooch:
AUGUST 7, 2022
So much for Hooch getting to debut his skills. https://fb.watch/nNjceGX2G0/
AUGUST 12, 2022
Hooch slept through a full mani/pedi and made all my dreams come true.
Hooch: “DID WE DO NAILS LAST NIGHT?!” Yes, we did, Hoochie, and RIP your gnarly dewclaw.
AUGUST 14, 2022
Hooch no longer needs special rules at treat time and neither does Blazer! In the last photo, Jax is giving me that Husky ‘tude.
SEPTEMBER, 2022
It was dark when Mona and Lucy started the party this morning, and I had to sub vanilla ice cream for half & half in my coffee.
I got back in bed to ease into the day and Hooch came at once to snuggle me.
Hooch – the dog who was this spring a lump on the shelter floor; a canine who led a paralyzingly fearful existence, who shuddered and shrunk at the slightest sound, movement; who was afraid of everything from his food bowl to ceiling fans; a soul so busted, comfort meant leaving him alone, allowing him to watch me and how I interact with the other dogs, to enter my personal space without the threat of my hand. That same Hooch.
Here we are heading into fall with a Hoochie who seeks closeness. Touch has become something he desires; a human hand no longer means hurt, but affection, and he sat above me this morning, looking into my eyes, wide open for love. I threw down a few massage moves, and the boy melted into a puddle beside me, adjusting himself to guide my hand where he needed the most pets, sometimes stopping to lick my face as if to say… it’s not so hard to be a Hooch anymore.
It has been my honor to foster Hooch, to witness the resilience of the canine spirit and to be part of his story. And as I pet him this morning, I did something I don’t always do — I paused to “water my own flowers.”
It’s been an overwhelmingly stressful few years in my personal life, but the dogs kept coming and helped me push through. They arrived during some low moments and each of them taught me something about myself and helped me rise above it.
Caught in a deluge of human ego and narcissism this year, it became obvious that the canines all had a message for me when a person I once respected belittled my work and its value, in an effort to invalidate and control me by making me feel small, kinda like someone did to Hooch. I knew before I even got a call that canines were on the way to rebuke, to protest, to MAKE SURE I didn’t listen to the bullshit. Shortly after, I was asked to take 2 neonates—Beck and Brook I eventually named them—who ended up being the last babies Rio got to love before his death.
I chose to believe the dogs; I chose to believe in me. I chose Rio, who I didn’t know was dying at the time. I chose Jax. I chose Hooch. I chose Ellen. I chose Lenny. I chose the homeless puppies, the bottle babies, the labeled dogs — dogs I didn’t even know.
In a society that categorizes our value on the superficial, I like being the weird mom. I am monumentally proud of and grateful to exist on this planet with a humble purpose, that Hooch found safety in my imperfect Crazy Town, and that we have a relationship founded on respect and trust. Power is being able to promise this dog that no one will ever hurt him again. There is nothing money could buy that could be so rewarding.
I choose you, Hooch!!
OCTOBER 13, 2022 – Adoption
Hooch went boldly on a road trip today, and it is with the fullest, most grateful heart I get to tell you: my boy decided not to return to the orphanage.
Life’s pretty sweet in Maryland, it turns out, and I would have adopted them too.
In short, I couldn’t have dreamed up a more perfect destiny for a soul as pure as Hooch’s, and tonight I formally introduce our GRADUATE with his new brother Moose!!
Congratulations to the new pack! I wish you all so well.
Update from home March 2022
Timely update from Hooch & Moose. I was thinking of Hooch a lot today and then poof, his dad sent these and my heart nearly burst.
MARCH, 2022
Timely update from Hooch & Moose. I was thinking of Hooch a lot today and then poof, his dad sent these and my heart nearly burst.
“I’ve brought you a new playfellow”, the fairy said. “You must be very kind to him and teach him all he needs to know in rabbitland, for he is going to live with you forever and ever!”
He gave one leap and the joy of using those hind legs was so great he went springing about the turf on them, jumping sideways and whirling around like the others did. And he grew so excited that when he turned to look for the fairy, she had gone.
“He was a real rabbit at last. At home with the other rabbits”
OCTOBER 17, 2023 – Reflection 1-year later re: the above post
hat’s how it really went too. Hooch, perhaps the least likely to ever leave Crazy Town, DID make it to his furever home; exactly where he belongs.
The first applicant lived in DC, no yard the application said, and I bawled imagining my Hoochie having to navigate city life. It would be too much for him. It would shut him down. I would have failed him if I let him go there.
But thankfully, I wrote to that person and told them about my Hooch and who he is and what he needed, and she didn’t respond.
The next applicant was the one. I felt it, and because of my relationship with Hooch I asked if I could bring him to their home in Maryland.
We planned for everything, how we’d do the dog:dog introduction – and when we got there, the magic of the universe took over.
Hooch and Moose looked at each other through the fence as if to say, “HEY! I’ve been looking for you!!”
We agreed that we didn’t need to do any dumb intros, and I released Hooch from his leash into their fence, and that was the last time Hooch ever thought of me.
He was home. He knew it. I knew. We all knew it.
He was on the couch when I left – this very couch. I didn’t say goodbye to him. I didn’t make it a thing. My Hooch was home, safe, loved, and exactly where he was meant to be.
He didn’t even notice I’d left.
I love you forever Hooch. And Moose too! And I’ll never stop being thankful for your family!!!!
OCTOBER 17, 2023 – update from home
Update – one year later from Hooch’s dad.
Hoochie always loved napping belly up!
Yes I cried. This makes me so happy!!!