# Seeking Stories



## SaffronTea (Jun 4, 2013)

edit: I am looking even for members who have adopted a dog and have a happy story to tell about it. Or someone fostering who can state how many dogs are abandoned who are perfectly good for a home.

I am writing an article on the importance of spaying/neutering your pets, as well as adopting from rescues/shelters.

I have read the post My Name Is Sam on this forum, and it is fantastic, but I also want to get some personal thoughts from those who have rescued dogs, foster dogs, work in shelters, etc.

The topic is to turn people away from buying puppy mill puppies from pet stores, or from "breeders" who are just in it for the money, or who didn't alter their animals and ended up with puppies and kittens they don't have the resources/desire to care for. I also greatly want to prevent the reader from wanting to become a "backyard breeder" that ends up with animals they cannot take care of, or wants to sell because they think their dogs are wonderful, and the babies will be awesome.

Pictures! Pictures would be fantastic! Pictures of dogs who were rescued, as well as those brought in. Pictures of the swarmed offices of too many people abandoning animals at the shelter, and of the utterly full cages.

I will be going out and getting some myself, but I want this to be a really good article, so I am reaching out to those with far more experience in this topic than I have for assistance.


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## ireth0 (Feb 11, 2013)

I think a lot of the problem is that there is still this perception that all shelter dogs have something 'wrong' with them, which just isn't the case at all.

If you'd be interested in specific examples feel free to PM me, I can offer from my experience as a shelter volunteer.


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## SaffronTea (Jun 4, 2013)

I've PMed you. I really am looking for anyone to share their stories, even people who have rescued a dog in the past and have a happy story to tell about the experience.


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## ConorD (Sep 14, 2013)

I have only had my rescue for a few months now, but she's been a total sweetheart and if you PM what you're looking for, I would be happy to share the story. (She was rescued from a no-kill shelter who got her from a high kill one in Philadelphia).


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## wespom (Aug 18, 2013)

I will PM you.


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## apbtdude (Sep 16, 2013)

I rescued a pitbull terrier about four years ago. He was apuppy around 9 weeks old and the last was mistreating him. I was 18 years old at the time and had no experience training dogs and never owned such a powerful breed. There was many ups and downs but we managed. After a year he was 100% trained. Could walk down the road without a leash and never leave my side. For along great with cats and dogs alike. More recently i was at my uncle shop and when i was leaving something caught my eye in the small patch of bushes. I walked over and it was a stay dog. It took around two hours to get him to sniff me and let me touch him. After around ten minutes of letting him get use to be i got him and brought him home. Have him a bath. He absolutely hated it but I'm sure he felt so much better. 


So after the bath i fed him and have him water, as he was reading i was checking if he had food aggression. For a starving stray he had none.
Looking over his body it was clear he was used as a fighting dog.he is a red nose pitbull. Mixed with maybe afown pit. I took him to the very top get him neutered and a check up/shots. And he is in good health and his bones have signs there were breaks at one point but he is a healthy76lbs baby. It amazes me how pitbulls can be abused and fought and then turn around and trust humans again. He shows no aggression towards people or animals. Only thing bad i can find with him is he thinks he's a lap dog lol


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## Kayota (Aug 14, 2009)

I will give you a story tomorrow


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## Abbylynn (Jul 7, 2011)

Eddee ......

Cage #55 ... labeled a "Live Wire" by the shelter and sitting behind the cold bars of a cramped cubicle for the second time in a month. The first time he was a run-away. The second time he was found miles from his home ... suspected he was dumped. He came in wearing his tags. The shelter called him "Tiki" and his real name was "Freddy" ...

Looking at "Petfinder" for something to keep my mind off of the loss of my Heart Dog Leeo .... I saw a dog who I couldn't believe I was seeing! It was uncanny! I decided to go to the shelter to see this little black Terrier mix who looked identical to my childhood dog of 17 years! When I arrived at the shelter the little black dog had been adopted not more than 5 minutes prior to my arrival.

Disappointed and just as I was about to leave I heard the bark and whine of a small dog two cages down from the little black dog's cage. I walked over and looked inside to see a brindle tiny scruffy looking Schnauzer mix of sorts. I said hello to him and he reached his paw out of the cage and held my hand ... as if to say "Please let me out of this place."

Although I had not been there looking for "Tiki" I asked to see him. The volunteer took him outside to a kennel run where I spent an hour visiting with him ... watching him bounce off of the fence walls and off of me and flying high in the air and sliding and running down the cement for all he was worth! He was a "Live Wire" for sure!" He was a clown ... a circus dog of sorts! Lol! He was so easy to love!

Just one problem needed resolved. His owners did not want to sign him over to the shelter but at the same time ... did not want him back. I could not adopt him until they signed him over. I drove 45 minutes to see him every day for three days in a row hoping he was free to adopt. He had already been there for almost two weeks ... way too long. The Dog Warden told me to sit tight and he was sending someone to "Tiki's" humans home to get him signed over for me.

Needless to say .... an hour or so later ... It was done! He was all mine! It felt like Christmas! It was so worth the wait and all the travels. I named him "Eddee" with the double "EE's" because of my Heart Dog "Leeo". 

My little Eddee was adopted by me exactly one month to the day of the passing of my heart dog "Leeo"............. 

Some things are just meant to be ... and although Eddee had many issues ... we have overcome many of them. Eddee has been with me for over a year now ... and I really wouldn't trade him for anything in the world. I needed him as much as he needed me. 

It is like they say "Sometimes you don't get the dog you want ... but the dog you need"

Eddee's shelter photo .....



Eddee the day I brought him home .......


563650_270394739721772_568915520_n - Copy by Leah Lu, on Flickr

Eddee one month after I adopted him .... Such a proud look on his face! Eddee's first boat ride!



Eddee now ....


0902131817a by Leah Lu, on Flickr


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## packetsmom (Mar 21, 2013)

Tinker

I don't have any pictures of Tinker. They're on a hard drive I need to do recovery on. I adopted Tinker from a high kill shelter. She'd been returned to the shelter twice and, in retrospect, she and I weren't the best fit, but she had these piercing blue eyes and I just could not leave her there. She was listed as a lab mix, but we later discovered she was a Carolina Dog, a breed of pariah dog in the Southern US, known as the "Dixie Dingo."

Tinker came to me anxious and fearful. She had severe separation anxiety, quite likely from the times she'd be left by her owners. She wasn't afraid of anything else in this world...except being left behind. She could run for miles on end and still have energy. She could clear a 6 foot tall fence easily and then wanted to play chase all around the neighborhood.

Tinker became my running buddy and is the reason I began running. I later completed 5ks and then a 24 hour, 3 race event. She taught me a lot about love as well as accepting that not everything can be conquered by it. She had a powerful spirit to match her body and loving her was a lot like loving something wild and free.


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## SaffronTea (Jun 4, 2013)

You all, you're helping out SOO much!

I'll be posting the article in October, for Doggy Adoption Day!


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## ThoseWordsAtBest (Mar 18, 2009)

I've worked in shelters and have been volunteering/fostering for almost 10 years now. Seen a lot of adoptions and adopted 4 of my own so you're free to PM me if any of that would be particularly relevant to you.


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## luv mi pets (Feb 5, 2012)

Worked in a high kill shelter now in a high fast paced vet clinic. I have a group of dogs nicknamed the euthanasia list: A group of dogs of mixed ages/breeds that were set for euth and I could not do it. Adopted them and now some have grown old with me. My farm is unofficially known as 'The Misfits Farm' like the island of the misfits toys from Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer. My oldest one is a JRT who at the age of 16 still going strong. Adopted her around the age of 2 and no one wanted the 'psycho dog' She was sent to the euth room to make room for more strays. Could not do it and I adopted her. Cobb long haired Chihuahua breeder bought him in at 7 weeks to euth because of his eyes needed drops everyday and he already had eye surgery. The vet could not do the deed. Came back and had me go talk to the breeder. I walked out with that lil guy. The vet neutered him -not that day- and has provided the meds for his eyes free of charge. To Mowgli the Anatolian who he himself decided he wanted to live here after boarding here for a week. Kept running away from the owner to destroying about a thousand dollars worth of stuff at her place. Either I took him or the owner was going to ..............or said she was going to. 

I have fostered dogs, had dogs come here whose owners were frustrated with the dog but just was not ready to re-home the dog. The USA is not the only country who has a stray problem. The stray dogs of Greece, to the stray dogs of London, it is world-wide problem. The stray dogs of Greece is interesting about what they did to the stray dogs prior to the Olympics and then returned the dogs back to the streets after the games. Some dogs were poisoned and people threw a fit. The subway dogs of Russia and Moscow have learned to ride the subways and even learned how to cross the streets to avoid getting hit. Interesting reads and that strays population is not just a local problem


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## Hellocat (May 13, 2013)

I originally planned to get a dog from a breeder. We have been considering a dog for a few yrs, but wanted to make sure the timing was right and we were settled. Over the last yr or two, I started thinking about a shelter dog. This is mostly because of the information out there regarding shelter dogs and how important it is to adopt. I personally know someone who does rescue work, and she also taught me that rescue was the way to go. Once my kids learned that adopting meant saving a life, they were on board. My husband was the only one who wasn't keen on the idea. He is not a dog person, and knows nothing about them. He has many old fashioned ideas when it comes to dogs: getting a shelter dog is getting someone else's problem, if the dog was so great, why did it wind up at the shelter? I'm the main boss and I decided we would adopt. We were matched w/ a two yr old maltipoo from ok. She came on a transport days before the massive tornados hit, so my kids always say we saved her from that too. I'm so glad I read and talked to people about the adjustment period. There are so many behaviors duchess displayed that weren't the real duchess. She was just getting used to our family and environment. Duchess was supposed to be a family dog, but ended up being MY dog. She and I are so attached to each other. 

My mom even said how perfect the timing was when I got her. My youngest child started kindergarten this yr, so I'm at home alone all day. Now I have my little buddy to keep me company. She looks like a different dog from when we first got her. She had been shaved due to extreme matting. I started feeding her salmon food and grooming her regularly. She looks twice her initial size simply because of her big, fluffy hairdo. I puff her up with a comb every day- it makes her body look like a fat rat or sausage lol.


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## MarielSturrock (Oct 4, 2013)

That dog is so cute.


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## PragueRatter (Aug 6, 2013)

Keep in mind when you write your article, animal shelters get full and sometimes turn away. At least that's the case in the UK

My lurcher, Alfie, always did the daily run around the farm on the back of my quad bike but this day something in the bushes distracted him and in his eagerness to jump off the bike, he tripped and hurt his paw. I patched him up and headed out to our local vets. Entering the reception with poor limping Alfie, I wasn't prepared for what I was about to meet. 

My vet was in the reception shouting angrily at some woman and the woman was crying but shouting back at him through her tears. It didn't take me long to understand that the cowering border collie, she had on a leash, had been brought in to be destroyed. All the animal sanctuaries are full, she screamed, other than taking him out into the woods and abandoning him, I don't have a choice. The vet however, stood his ground. 'I will not put such a young healthy dog down just because it barks and annoys your neighbours'. Leave the dog with me over night and let me see if I can get it into a sanctuary tomorrow. I felt such a pride in my vet. Good for him and how reassuring to know my dogs vet was so compassionate. I looked over at the border collie who persistently tried to make himself smaller as he crouched under the metal legged chair. 

'Ill take him down to the army vets then' she uttered and with that she dragged the dog out slamming the door behind her. The vet turned back towards his surgery but my anxious voice stopped him for a moment. 'Will the army vet euthonize him?' I asked. The vet merely nodded his head and disappeared into his surgery. I asked the receptionist if she would hold onto Alfie for a moment and rushed out after the woman who was now in the car and about to drive off. Knocking on the closed window I was shouting 'Ill have him. Ill take him home with me'. She told me the dog continually barked and they were going to be evicted from their apartment. 

What a surprise when I walked into the vets surgery with one limping lurcher and a very familiar border collie! Once Alfie was bound up and good to go, he did a full health check on the collie, de wormed and de-fleed him and said he would probably need all his inoculations. He thought he was around a year old.

Well Tobie turned out to be a brilliant fetching dog. within a year he could round up a dozen sheep and pen them like he'd been doing it for years. He rounded up everything else too mind! ducks, chickens, people and the occasional horse!. He worked up until he was 13, when he started to lose his sight and he died peacefully at home with us when he was 15. He brought enormous pleasure into our lives and I honestly can't think that he ever put a foot wrong. Funny thing is, we had to teach that dog to bark!!


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