The Happy Ending Project: Paulo!

Paulo was one of those special dogs. He was unique looking and his personality was, well, funny to say the least. I guess you could say that he had personality plus and then some! Every one of the volunteers was familiar with his silly antics and loved him all the more for them.

To say Paulo was loved by the volunteers would be an understatement. He was one of those very special dogs that we will always remember.

First off, he was adorable. His sad little face would just look at you with such longing that you couldn't refuse him. This got him out of his kennel more often than not.

Probably one of his cutest attributes was his chattering teeth when he was excited, which was most of the time. It was like he was just trembling with anticipation and couldn't control himself. This cracked up all the volunteers! He was such a nut!

He also had a funny habit of destroying our treat bags to get at those treats. In fact, he was way too excited most of the time which made it a little hard to see him going home with just anybody. We were so worried that he might be misunderstood with these silly behaviors of his and we felt very protective of him.

I don't think people realize sometimes how attached we get to our dogs at the shelter. Paulo was at WLA for many months. Far longer than most dogs in fact. We want our dogs to be adopted, but to the RIGHT person. We just don't want to see something go wrong and, believe me, we have seen that happen. So needless to say, we were sweating this one...

You know, you often hear that it takes "a village" to accomplish something meaningful and I would have to say that is true about finding our Paulo a home. As gorgeous and funny as he was, it seemed like no one was willing to take the leap and bring him home. However, thanks to many the believers and fans of Paulo, he eventually found the perfect home!

First we had beautiful professional photos taken of Paulo by Seth Casteel. They really captured Paulo's wacky personality and unusual look. Seth always does such a terrific job showing our dogs in their best light. (pix at the top)

Then a good friend of the WLA shelter, Robert Cabral of Bound Angels decided that he would do a video of Paulo showing what a cool dog he was and how he would make a terrific companion. The video caught the attention of another good friend, Helen Storey, who then promoted it further on her wonderful website "The Wuffington Wag." The friends of the shelter came through once again!

As a result, the perfect person soon came forward. He was someone who knew Pit bulls and was totally at ease with Paulo's funny behavior. This guy got it! It was such an amazing match!

Once Paulo was home, his name was changed to Spanky which was totally fitting. Mr. Spanky was settling in quite nicely and we were all soooo relieved. What a great new beginning for Paulo/Spanky!

Then, an even more exciting development for Spanky followed. This was the addition of a girlfriend!! Dora, an East Valley shelter dog was added to the family and love was in the air!

Dora and Spanky, Spanky and Dora, they were a perfect match made in heaven.

In all the months that Paulo languished at the shelter who would've imagined that he would end up with a wonderful home with people who not only understand him, but appreciate him? Then add a sweet friend to keep him company, holy moly!!!

Paulo aka Spanky hit the jackpot I'd say!