This website is dedicated to our dog Nantucket, who I adopted from BARC Animal Shelter on October 8th, 2003. He goes by ‘Tucket‘ for short. He was found wandering Martha’s Vineyard and that’s how he got his name — they couldn’t call him Martha so they chose the next closest island! He was 1 year old when I adopted him. He has since become part of the family, and we are happy we have him in our lives. Here is the story of how I found him…
It started back in September 2003, when I decided I had to have a dog in my life again. I began the hunt for the best possible candidate. I was looking for a medium to large breed and he had to be smart and strong with natural protective instincts. I didn’t want a show dog or little sissy dog (not that sissy dogs are bad, they’re just no good for me!) On my hunt I came across a breed known as the Thai Ridgeback. I became obsessed with the idea of having such a rare and beautiful dog in my home, the more I read about the breed the more excited I became. I started the wheels in motion to find a Ridgeback and bring him home. I really wanted a puppy so that I could raise him and train him from the beginning. I contacted an American breeder in Thailand that had seemingly dedicated his life to these dogs. He was very legitimate and responded to my emails kindly; I was very close to ordering a puppy.
During my research on the web though, I came across many dog rescue organizations and shelters. The more I looked through all of the dogs looking for homes, the more curious I became. I dragged a friend with me to see what sort of dogs there were at shelters in the NYC area. I started to feel bad about wanting a fresh puppy when there were all these truly beautiful dogs that were homeless. Guilt was setting in. I was raised a catholic, what do you expect?
I visited about four shelters in the area, and finally I came across a Dog that I just couldn’t walk away from. It was at the BARC Shelter in Brooklyn, NY. I took him for a walk on Oct 7th and he seemed perfect. He stared at me as I walked away as if he knew this was going to work out. I still decided to sleep on it and ended up right back at BARC the following day. As I arrived at the shelter, he was just returning from a test walk with someone else. He stared right at me again as I arrived and I took him right back out for another walk. That was it, he had to come home with me today…and he did. So my friend Konstantinos and I took him right over to the Canal Bar in Park Slope to celebrate with a beer.
Since then he has been a pleasure to have around. I didn’t think much of it at first, but the advantages of adopting an adult dog were many. He knew how to sit and give his paw already, he was house-trained, and he had no left over puppy desires regarding the destruction of my shoes, furniture, or toilet paper. There was no difficulty or break in period in transitioning him to our home, unlike the craziness that sometimes comes with training a puppy. Since then we have taught him to stay, lay down, play dead, and how to close doors. I was amazed to be able to find such a smart animal in a shelter, and can’t imagine why his prior owners just let him go.
Tucket brings plenty of joy into our lives. My wife Orsi and I could not ask for the company of a better creature. He is a constant companion, a guardian, and with such a warm and playful personality he’s just plain fun to have around. He loves the ocean as you’ll see in the photos below, and he is great with other dogs at dog parks. Adopting an adult dog can add a lot to your life, and it can save the animal’s life. We invite you to take a look at some of the photos below to get a feel for how nice it is to have a great dog in your life, and for proof that there are many great adult dogs available at your local shelter, pound, or pet rescue center.
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