Nova in the Windy City!

This past Saturday was a big day for Nova!  He had his neuter stitches removed and (finally!) got to ditch the cone of destruction.  But more importantly, Nova met his new mommy and on Sunday we took him over to her apartment downtown.  Nova (now Baxter) has a great view of Lake Michigan from his high rise home and is just a hop skip and a jump away from a dog beach. 

When we arrived to drop Nova off it was clear that his new mom was totally in love with him and it seems like he's going to settle in nicely.  He'll be going for lots of walks on the lake front, supervising his mom's softball games and hanging out with other pooches on the water.

But I have a little confession.  Leaving Nova after his home check was one of the hardest home checks/drop offs I've done in a long time.  I'm usually a little sad when I drop off a foster with their new family, but after doing it so many times I am equally excited about saving another dog, so the emotions tend to balance out a bit.  But I had let my guard down with Nova, thinking that maybe we would keep him but wanting a little more time to decide, and so he snuck a little deeper into my heart.  After we handed off the leash to Nova's new mom, she walked us to the elevator and brought him along.  At first Nova didn't want to leave my side, but after a goodbye kiss from me and a little encouragement from his mom he happily walked away to his new life, never looking back.  I had to turn away as he reached his door to hide my tears.

There will be more dogs; there's always another dog.  One of the (unfortunate) things I've learned volunteering in animal rescue is that there is an endless supply of homeless animals.  Eventually we'll find the right one for us and I'm guessing when we do we won't feel the need to wait it out to decide.  It's just that right now it still hurts a little.  But I'm also sure that Nova's mom knows how lucky she is to have him and will give him a wonderful life.

Just an hour or two after dropping him off, Nova's new mom texted me to say they had gone for a nice walk and he had already made three new friends.  Hopefully this means lots of updates in the future on one of our all time favorite fosters.  Here are some pictures we took of him on Sunday afternoon.