This dog made an epic journey to get back to his foster mom
Sometimes we choose our pets, and sometimes they end up choosing us. It’s a magical feeling when they do. A vet tech in Memphis, Tennessee, experienced that touch of magic after she fostered a white German shepherd for just six days and fate brought him back to her.
Rachel Kaufman saw a picture of the gorgeous dog online, looking pitiful and sad in an animal shelter while he awaited treatment for heart worms. She signed on as his foster parent for a few days so he could get out of the shelter until he moved on to a more permanent foster home where he would receive the medical attention he needed. (We’re loving Rachel already at this point.) A woman in Middle Tennessee had already agreed to adopt Hank once he was healthy and heart worm free.
But once Hank moved in with Rachel and her three dogs — two which she’d adopted and another temporary foster — he felt right at home. He bonded with Rachel and loved hanging out with her and going for walks with her other pets. She told the Memphis Commercial Appeal, “When you get a new dog, they imprint pretty quickly. He would follow me around a lot, watch what I was doing. I knew we had a good bond, but at that point, I couldn’t predict he would do what he did.”
What he did was pretty amazing, you guys. After being placed in his long-term foster home in East Memphis, he decided he belonged with Rachel and he wasn’t going to let anything keep him from getting back to her. After just two days away, when his new foster parent was out of the room, he unlocked the front door ALL BY HIMSELF (remember, this is a dog we’re talking about) and ran.
Two days and eleven miles later, he turned up on Rachel’s front porch. By all accounts, he must have headed straight back to her house. Hanks knows what he wants, guys. And what he wants is Rachel.
It sounds like the love-fest is mutual. “He traveled 11 miles to get back to me…I can’t fathom how he traveled that far across town that fast to get back to me. When it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be,” Rachel said.
Awwww. It sounds like Hank has found his forever home. Watch his tail-wagging reunion with Rachel in the video below. Warning: It just about broke our dog-loving hearts (crying face emojis forever).
[Image via Twitter. Video via YouTube.]
