For 95 days, Waylon waited.
\nThe young pit bull mix was living at PAWS Shelter of Central Texas after being transferred from an overcrowded shelter.
\nDay after day, potential adopters came and went.
\nWaylon became a favorite among the shelter staff. He was so well-liked that he even spent time behind the front desk as an unofficial \u201coffice dog.\u201d
\nBut what he still didn’t have was a permanent family.
\nThen 9-year-old Cairo \u201cCai\u201d Hall walked through the door. Forbes
\nA Dream He’d Had Since He Was Three
\nCai hadn’t suddenly decided that he wanted a dog.
\nAccording to his family, he’d been asking for one since he was just 3 years old.
\nSo when his mother, Marvy Hall, finally took him to PAWS Shelter of Central Texas in Kyle, Texas, Cai wasn’t treating the visit casually.
\nHe had been learning about dogs and how to properly care for them.
\nThen he met Waylon.
\nCai later described their meeting as essentially love at first sight. He knew there was something special about this dog. Forbes
\nBut shelter employees noticed something special about Cai, too.
\nHe Came Prepared
\nInstead of simply asking whether Waylon knew tricks, Cai had serious questions.
\nHe wanted to know what Waylon ate.
\nHe asked whether the dog was afraid of anything.
\nHe wanted information about heartworm prevention, training and how to register Waylon’s microchip.
\nAn adoption counselor who had worked at the organization for a decade told Forbes that Cai’s level of preparation stood out \u2014 even compared with many adults who came to adopt. Forbes
\nThis wasn’t simply a child excited about getting a puppy.
\nCai understood that bringing a dog home meant taking responsibility for another life.
\nAnd Waylon had already been waiting a long time for someone willing to make that commitment.
\n95 Days of Waiting
\nWaylon had spent 95 days at the shelter.
\nLarge dogs can sometimes wait longer for homes, and Waylon had repeatedly been passed over despite becoming beloved by the staff.
\nBut Cai wasn’t interested in how many people had walked past Waylon before him.
\nHe had found his dog.
\nThe family moved forward with bringing Waylon home.
\nAnd that’s when Cai did something that turned an already heartwarming adoption into a moment people across the internet would remember.
\nThe Gold Blazer \u2764\ufe0f
\nFor adoption day, Cai didn’t arrive wearing ordinary clothes.
\nHe dressed up.
\nIn photographs from that day, the young boy can be seen standing proudly beside Waylon wearing a striking gold sequined blazer.
\nWhy dress so formally to adopt a dog?
\nFor Cai, the answer was simple.
\nIt was a special occasion.
\nAfter waiting years to have his first dog, bringing Waylon home wasn’t just another day.
\nIt deserved to be celebrated. Forbes
\nAnd perhaps Waylon deserved a celebration, too.
\nAfter 95 days of waiting, someone had finally arrived who wasn’t merely looking at him.
\nCai had chosen him.
\nA New Best Friend
\nAfter the adoption, Cai and Waylon quickly became close.
\nThey played together, trained together and cuddled.
\nCai even hoped their story might encourage other families to consider adopting shelter dogs rather than overlooking them because of their breed. Forbes
\nPAWS Shelter of Central Texas now lists Waylon and Cai among its adoption success stories. pawsshelter.org
\nWaylon waited 95 days.
\nCai had waited years for his first dog.
\nThen, on one special day in Texas, both of their waits ended. \u2764\ufe0f\ud83d\udc3e
\nAnd a little boy’s gold blazer made sure everyone knew just how important that day was.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For 95 days, Waylon waited. The young pit bull mix was living at PAWS Shelter of Central Texas after being transferred from an overcrowded shelter. Day after day, potential adopters came and went. Waylon became a favorite among the shelter staff. He was so well-liked that he even spent time behind the front desk as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4191,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"views":32,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4190"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4190\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4192,"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4190\/revisions\/4192"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}