I was in Utah for the first time last week. That makes eighteen out of fifty states that I've visited (or at least set foot in). Yay for me!

Why was I in Utah, you ask? Well, I'll tell you!

First, a little background...

When Bobbi and I worked together at the humane society, a really sweet dog came in. His name is Loki, and he is a large Black Lab/Great Dane mix. He had a couple of hip problems, and an injured knee (more specifically, a torn ACL) that will require surgery sometime in the future. Because of these few health problems, and because he is tall, big, and all black except for a white patch of fur down his chest, he was virtually ignored (it is a common phenomenon in shelters that the large black dogs are the hardest to adopt out because no one notices them. It's so common, it's been dubbed "black dog syndrome.").

We shelter workers totally fell in love with him, his charm, his sweet personality. But visitors all rushed to the puppies and the "pretty" dogs. (Confidentially speaking, Loki is one handsome dude. I don't know how anyone could miss it!)

So after six months of spending life in a very small kennel, Loki started to develop barrier frustration, which meant that if anyone tried to put their hands up against or through his kennel door, he'd bark and lunge at them to make them go away. It worked, as you can well imagine. And more than ever, no one wanted Loki.

That's not entirely true. I wanted Loki. I'm sure Joe would've been thrilled! Heh... But more than anyone, Bobbi really, truly wanted Loki. She always called him, "Mr. Loki," and "my dog." Through our dog play programs, Loki learned how to play (he'd never known how to before!), and then proceeded to teach every other dog that came into the shelter how to play appropriately with nice doggie manners. It may sound odd, but many dogs don't understand how to play properly, with correct communication skills, etc, unless they're taught by other dogs. Even if they don't learn as puppies (the most important time to learn!), they can often still learn later in life with the appropriate techniques and appropriate doggie teachers. Just like Loki!

Because of his phenomenal teaching skills, we started calling Loki "The Perfect Dog." After another month or two passed, our Perfect Dog was still with us. Still ignored by the public. Still stressed out by visitors. Still barking and lunging at the gate every time anyone walked by. And Bobbi still lived in her apartment that wouldn't allow dogs. About to start her dog trainer certification classes that would keep her away from home quite a bit, Bobbi knew there was no way she could adopt him then. What to do? Well, Boss Lady's solution was euthanasia, and he was up for review in two weeks.

A fire surged within Bobbi. She was not about to let her dog get put to sleep! So she started calling everyone she could think of, and she finally hit the jackpot! Best Friends Animal Sanctuary said they could take him. I still remember Bobbi's message on my voicemail six months ago, "Meg, I did it! I saved Loki! Jen is giving him a ride out to Best Friends on Sunday with the other guys she's taking. I'm going to adopt him when I can, though. Want to come with me when I go?? I'll talk to you soon, sweetie! Bye!"

And I still remember the more recent message from three weeks ago. "Hi, it's me! It's time! I'm going to Utah to get Loki. I'm mostly moved in to my new place now. Do you want to go with me? If not, can you watch my cats? If so, I'll find someone else to watch them! Let me know!"

I shook my head in disbelief. Do I want to go? Do I want to go?? Of course I wanted to go!! I called her immediately and told her as much, and soon our plans were set. After all that time, we were finally going to make it happen!