MAY 5, 2021
I am emerging from under my proverbial rock to welcome Mopey Opie into Crazy Town!
Sweet Opie was adopted as a little pup, but has returned to rescue with an unsightly case of mange. He’s missing about half of his fur in large patches, is itchy and has ears full of gunk; he is physically uncomfortable.
I wasn’t there when he was a pup, but I know for sure that he upheld his end of the contract, so The Opster isn’t to blame for his own timidity, and if he’d had the luxury of the opportunity, surely he would have enjoyed building confidence and learning social skills he never developed. He’s a little anxious and unsure; mentally he is uncomfortable. But he is as sweet as the dickens.
Luckily for Mopey Opie, here in Crazy Town we have a five-star social committee headed up by my number 1 social girl, and a mom that is skilled in treating canine skin ailments in the bathtub wearing only her underwear and a shirt, and who revels in digging big wads of goo out of neglected ears.
Welcome to Opie, who has a case of misanthropy after getting wet and soapy with a mom who’s kinda dopey.
MAY 17, 2021
Life is good for my sweetest Opie. He’s coming out of his shell and gaining confidence. I love him!
MAY 17, 2021
It’s bedtime in Crazy Town. Rio and Opie are sleeping with extra treats in their tummies which they earned by enduring hygiene measures inflicted by the mom.
Rio is a friend to all creatures great and small, and Opie seems to be following suit. It doesn’t get much sweeter.
MAY 25, 2021
Opie patiently waits his turn for Ellen’s ear cleaning service.
He’s proven to be a fabtastic pup — loving, playful, and he is full of funny little idiosyncrasies! His skin is improving and he seems more comfortable by the day, yet he is demanding more belly rubs than ever. 
I love our sweet Opie!! Crazy Town is exactly where he needed to be.
JUNE 7, 2021
I caught this middle-of-the-night snuggle pic. Rio was exhausted from hydrotherapy yesterday, and Opie so tired from being scared of the daytime.
Opie’s skin continues to improve, and he’s the sweetest quirky guy I ever knew. I’m glad he came to recover here.
JUNE 15, 2021
Rio: “It’s a good day for a snowcone.”
Opie: “Snowcone?! I love snowcone!”
JUNE 23, 2021
Our sweetest Opie found his furever humans this weekend, and they couldn’t have been a more perfect fit.
Opie, still a little timid, was unsure about the whole thing at first, so he watched from around the corner as his new family presented the treats and toys they brought for him and Rio. Opie quickly warmed up as these on-earth angels sat with and pet his best friend, and when he saw Rio wasn’t scared, Opie quickly decided they were his people.
Opie will always and forever hold a special place in my heart, and so will his people. They are a gift to this world.
Good luck, sweet Opie!! We’ll miss you!
SEPTEMBER 17, 2021
You guys!
My whole week was made when I got an update on our beloved Opie last night! Only — he goes by Smokey now. He has an adoring family who takes him to the dog park twice a day to see all his FRIENDS!
Opie-Smokey was looking pretty rough when he got to Crazy Town. Skin and coat issues take time to resolve, but I have never seen this stark of a transformation in a dog from my foster program. Everything about him — even his general affect — looks healthy, vibrant; full of love and life.
This is how it’s supposed to go. This is what love can do. THIS is rescue.
OCTOBER 9, 2021 – UPDATE
Surprise!
Smokey (formerly Opie) is back in Crazy Town while his phenomenal and loving parents are away, and we are all so glad to see him!
We medical fosters don’t often get to see the rescue all the way through, and we get these guys at their worst. We do our part to heal them physically and spiritually, try our hardest to set them up with a great life on the outside, and then we have to let go.
For the record, I’ve had the utmost confidence in everyone to whom I’ve adopted. So much as a red flag on the animals’ behalf is a disqualification, but I typically am searching for all the green flags.
Smokey’s family has lived up to every good thing I sensed about them. They appreciate and celebrate his wonderful quirks and they continued the work we started in Crazy Town. I have never seen a dog exude love like Smokey does. I see it in his coat, in his eyes, in his body language, in his wagging tail. I met him when he wasn’t even wearing most of his fur and hadn’t even tried on so much as affection. I did my small part as the bridge, but his family came in with the rescue.
They taught me about love and hope and humanity, and are the antithesis of everything in Smokey’s abysmal past, which is exactly who he needed to show up, and maybe who I needed to meet too.
MARCH 18, 2022
When Smokey’s mom texted and asked if I wanted to keep the former Opie for boarding, I didn’t even check my calendar before I said yes. Smokey is special to Crazy Town, to me, but most of all, he was one of Rio’s greatest friends.
Families who adopt my orphans get the added perk of being able to bring them back here for boarding (or training or play dates or daycare, etc.) It is one small way I can support the wonderful people whom I’ve not only deemed good enough to have a dog, but who seem a perfect fit for the one they’re adopting.
I love to see my former fosters, I’ll admit, and Smokey is one I’m always glad to welcome back to the pack. He came back the first time after adoption, all his fur grown in, and I was amazed by how the once disheveled and very mopey Opie almost sparkled, how I could feel in his spirit how much his family loves him. If dogs are our mirror, I have never seen nor felt a more beautiful reflection of a mom and dad. As I keep telling him, “love looks good on you, Smokey!!”
Smokey’s parents drove from Maryland to adopt him. We did a virtual meet and greet beforehand and Rio attended. Rio attended everything; he’d never miss a chance to support his friend, this equally quirky, bright, kind and goofy soul who was just as confused and lost and busted as Rio was when he first arrived. Luckily for the former Opie, by the time he got here, Rio had experience and confidence and had decided to head up the rehab team. He was juuuust weird enough to put a fellow timid oddball at ease. They were fast friends and Opie joined the pack.
When it came time for his adoption, the wonderful people who were about to become Opie’s family arrived with treats and a gift … and one for Rio too. Rio, no longer afraid of shit, greeted the FaceTime friends and relished in their doting as Opie watched from around the corner. FOMO got the best of him when he realized these humans had food, and out he came, ready to meet his new family with Rio by his side. He left here and started his real life as Smokey, where he visits the dog park every day, where his humans adore him, appreciate him, love on him, and —my favorite— bring him back to Crazy Town —his pack away from his pack — while they’re away.
Welcome back, Smokey!!
