Shelter dog greeted hotel visitors with ‘loving excitement.’ Now, he has a new home
A shelter dog greeted hotel visitors with “loving excitement” — and now, he has a new home.
“While the team and I are sorry to (see) Calhoun go, we are overjoyed in knowing that he has found a forever home with a family who will love him as much as we do,” Devon Allio, general manager of The Park on Main hotel in North Carolina, told McClatchy News in a March 21 email.
The heartwarming adoption came after Calhoun became the “dog in residence” at the hotel in the mountain town of Highlands. Over the past decade, the pet-friendly hotel has been welcoming foster dogs through a partnership with the Cashiers-Highlands Humane Society, according to the email and social media posts.
Through the program, The Park on Main said visitors have the chance to take the dogs “on walks around town or to the local waterfalls or nature trails.” Calhoun started in January and quickly made his mark.
“His warmth and loving excitement radiated with every greeting of team members and guests alike, and he made many friends,” Allio wrote.
Calhoun’s luck took a turn for the better when a visitor from Nashville, Tennessee, took Calhoun to her hotel room and out for a walk, WLOS reported.
The woman, Sydney Haykel, checked out of the hotel but couldn’t stop thinking about him. She told the TV station she “fell in love” with the dog, who reminded her of a pet she recently lost.
“Calhoun just kind of spoke to her,” Jodi Henkel, an assistant manager at the humane society, told WLOS.
So, three weeks after the fateful hotel stay, the Nashville family called to ask about adopting Calhoun. The shelter arranged to meet the family halfway, kicking off the dog’s next chapter, according to the hotel.
Calhoun got a new home after he was picked up as a stray. The 8-year-old mixed-breed dog spent several months at the shelter before he got to the hotel, which described him on Facebook as a “sweetheart” with “a bit of spunk for his age.”
“It can be bittersweet when our long-termers leave us because we often get attached to them but it’s always extra special when the seniors find great homes because we know how critical those years are,” the humane society told McClatchy News in an email.
The shelter is based in the Sapphire area, near Highlands and a roughly 60-mile drive southwest from the popular mountain town of Asheville.
This story was originally published March 22, 2024 at 9:56 AM.
