“For him, the floors very well could have been lava.”
Doug arrived at Tri-County Humane Society in St. Cloud, Minnesota, after his family could no longer care for him. He had been loved in his previous home and had spent his life working on a farm, where he was used to being outdoors all the time.
Because of that, shelter life was completely unfamiliar to him.
Doug was comfortable with dirt, grass and open space, but indoor floors were something new. When staff brought him inside the shelter, he froze. He didn’t understand that the smooth floors were safe to walk on.
To Doug, the floor might as well have been lava.
At 85 pounds, Doug was not exactly easy to carry, but the shelter team did their best to help him feel safe. Since he also wasn’t used to a leash or indoor routines, they knew he would need patience and time to adjust.
Instead of forcing him to walk, the staff came up with a creative solution. They placed Doug in a cart normally used for dogs recovering from surgery and wheeled him around the building.
Seeing a large, fluffy dog being pushed through the shelter in a cart was definitely unusual, but it helped Doug get where he needed to go without feeling overwhelmed.
The shelter shared Doug’s funny and sweet fear of floors on social media, and his story quickly caught the attention of the perfect family.
Doug was soon adopted by people who also live on a farm, giving him the chance to return to the kind of life he knows and loves. In his new home, he is once again surrounded by space, animals and outdoor adventures.
His new family already adores him and jokingly calls him their “Forever Employee of the Month.”
And even though Doug is happy to be back in his element, he did make progress during his time at the shelter. By his final days there, he had started walking to and from his kennel on his own, proving that floors were not quite as scary as he first thought.
Thanks to the patience of the shelter staff and the love of his new family, Doug now has the best of both worlds: a farm to enjoy and a little more confidence than before.