A Lesson from Lexie.

Lexie is the first puppy I was assigned to ever since I joined SOSD. First pup assigned but third to find a new home.

At the adoption drive, she was so bubbly and naughty; she can't keep still for a second and find joy in disturbing 3 of her other siblings in the playpen, so her fosterer has no choice but to segregate her from the rest and take her out for walks several times throughout the drive.

At the drive, she was not a popular puppy as she is not pretty to begin with; she is brown and tanned, she cannot compete with Yogi (my other assigned dog) which has a evenly spread black patch on her top and a white patch at the bottom.

(This is Yogi.)

On top of that, she has so much energy to expel, oblivious to the fact that she is actually being over-friendly in greeting other pups and humans. The other brown pup, Evie, a feminine girl with good temperament was never angry with Lexie even when she was treated roughly and everyone who came to the playpen loved Evie and quickly labelled Lexie as "naughty". 

Lexie never had more than one potential adopter in our once-a-month adoption drive when other pups can get more than 4 people vying for him/her at the same time. And that one potential adopter wrote his/her name down for her only after some persuasion and recommendation from Eason.

Lexie did not get off to a good start. She did not eat or sleep well at a factory site until she was discovered at 3 months old, and was moved around from fosterers to potential adopters and vice versa for around 5 times throughout the next 3 months, but it did not bother her as much as it bothers us. She continues to find joy in her daily life, greeting people warmly when she meets them.

First Potential Adopter was a 13-year-old boy, Eason (my good friend now lol). He loves Lexie to bits, but his 24-year-old sis, who has been terrified of dogs all her life, shocked the whole family by proclaiming bluntly, "If you keep Lexie, I will leave the house for good!" (Similar to something which I recently told my mum, "MOM, if you throw away my pillow, I will leave the house for good!" And she was like -_-", "how old are you already my friend?")

And so, she went back to Fosterer, Gillian, after a week. 

Then came a 2nd Potential Adopter who was very keen to give Lexie a good home. We all thought it would end well but much to our dismay, it didn't. Her son developed some allergic reaction towards her, and we said if she could wait it out, her son might just develop resistance and be okay soon. However, she could not afford to take the risk, and we were disheartened by the news. 

I asked if Gillian could foster her back again since it didn't work out for Lexie in her second home either. But she couldn't, as throughout the past month of fostering Lexie, her own dog was very jealous of Lexie's presence and barked at her non-stop. They both fought throughout the day and the din created wasn't exactly music to the ears, so her husband did not want us to bring Lexie back to them. Helpless, she and her daughter spent that night crying over Lexie's plight. :(


It was a few days later when we found an application to foster her. It was a family who can really take good care of her. The daughter applied without her mum's consent LOL. Her mum couldn't contain her shock when we first came to her doorsteps with a dog but became okay with it soon after. She said to us, "It's good to see that my children have a kind heart, that they always want to help people and animals." The senior volunteer who came with me hinted the mum to adopt Lexie but they tactfully rejected her requests, saying that she couldn't commit to take care of her for the next 10 years of her life.


Adoption drive after adoption drive, Lexie was there, leashed by Gillian and Eason with high hopes of promoting her to a good home. But again and again, they left the drive with disappointment.

Gillian would tell me a couple was interested but not interested enough to write down their names for Lexie, another was interested too but not as much as the other cuter puppy. After all, she is 5 months, big-sized and can't hold a candle to those young, sweet things anymore. Success of me finding a new home for Lexie has become even more elusive.


I called up Joel, a 18 year old boy, who wrote down Lexie as his third preferred pup, and he said the top of his list is Yogi (above pic) and no one else. (Anyway nice Joel has adopted Yogi! Yay!)

Then I called up a couple and the lady freaked out when I told her about the adoption fee of $300 which includes fees for microchip, vaccinations and sterilisation. She snapped and retorted that her last pup was adopted and she didn't pay any fee. As desperate as we were, we told ourselves that we weren't comfortable with future adopters who weren't willing to spend a single cent for the pup, and to be patient and keep our faith in finding the right person for Lexie.


Finally, one fine day, my leader told me to follow up an online application for Lexie, and it was an adopter well-respected by many and whose humble personality endeared her to her students. She is ah-hem someone very reputable in Singapore. 

Her current dog was also adopted from us and because how well she was treated she was so beautiful you won't think she is mixed breed at first sight. She eats freshly imported beef, was taken out for walks hourly by the 2 maids, eats on elevated platform so that she doesn't bend her neck to eat.. etc etc. 


Her friend texted this adopter that another dog Apple looks like her previous dog which passed on months ago but when she came to our website, she saw the below picture of Lexie on our website and her pitiful story, so she wants to help. At the same time she was looking for a dog to keep her dog company.
She said Lexie looked so pitiful in the picture with her ears down and all, and she knows she can't leave her alone looking for a permanent home.

During a week of homestay at adopter's house...

Like usual, she did a fantastic job of quickly settling in...

Continues her cheerful self and became best of dog friends with adopter's dog (doesn't look like a mongrel right?) quickly. 
I love this picture to bits! BEST PICTURE OF THE YEAR. 

She got the dog to like her and they slept on the same bed. Awww...

It was a very teary moment for me and some other volunteers when adopter texted me that she is definitely adopting Lexie...
"She is wonderful and gets along very well with Ariel. I would be delighted to give her a home and take care of her the rest of her life. Yes I will adopt her."

Now Lexie resides in the biggest house I have ever seen in Singapore, plays on the tennis court in the premises of the adopter's house and eats only fresh top-grade food which was brought in every morning.

Lexie has impacted a few human beings like Eason, Gillian and her daughter, a few other volunteers and me. She has shown us that no matter how things can go wrong, she just needs to be herself and stay positive, and keeping faith that she will find someone who loves and accepts her for who she is, everything will just turn out just the way it should be! She also has touched the hearts of many not because of how she looks, but solely based on her bubbly and energetic personality~~
I LOVE LEXIE, SHE IS SIMPLY AWESOME!

She has brought me to know her adopter, an inspiring, successful but humble person, and also closer to people like Gillian & Eason who love her so much!