Kyle’s Long Journey Home

Kyle’s story starts on the streets of a small town in Mexico. He was a stray puppy taken to one of our rescue partners. He struggled to settle in that shelter. The noises. The smells. The commotion. Everything was new and he was overwhelmed.

Eventually, a veterinarian volunteered to foster Kyle. That’s where he stayed until October of 2021 when, at just nine months old, he was transferred to Rancho Coastal Humane Society through our Friends of County Animal Shelters (FOCAS) program.

In many ways, Kyle still had to learn to be a dog. One of the biggest initial challenges he faced was learning commands in English. He had only heard Spanish until making the 17-hour drive from Sonora to Encinitas.

Named Pet of the Week in January of 2022, his description said, “Kyle needs a home where there is not a lot of commotion. His new family will need to give him time to settle in at his own pace. Kyle is trying to be social, but he’s still learning to trust people. He might walk up to get attention, but then be confused when he gets it. Give him plenty of positive reinforcement.”

In December 2022, we named him Pet of the Week a second time. He went into foster care with one of our staff members to prepare for his new life.

We KNEW there was a perfect family for him. They just hadn’t found him yet.

Kyle’s big day came almost two years after his arrival. On September 15, 2023, he was adopted and left us to begin his new life with his new family in La Mesa.

Most of our pets don’t travel 17 hours to get adopted. But for Kyle (now called Kai), it was the beginning of a life he nearly missed.

As we do with all of the animals adopted from RCHS, we followed up with Kyle’s adopters to see how things are going. Just this week, they had this to say about “Kai”.

“Kai is really starting to come out of his shell! He shows a lot of interest in daily walks and even starts dancing around the living room when I put on my sneakers. He and Malcolm don’t play much but they love to cuddle. He is taking a little longer to warm up to John but each day he seems to build his confidence!”

As the Robert Frost poem says,

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Thank you for supporting Rancho Coastal Humane Society where we believe Every Animal Deserves a Tomorrow.®  Even for those who arrive on the road less traveled, you have made all the difference.