Thursday, January 13, 2011

An addition to the family


Guess what I did on my lunch hour on Tuesday? I went to the local shelter to meet my new boy. My friend Dogblogger at Dog and God posted a video on FB Tuesday morning, asking for help for a dog that needed a home. I watched the video and started bawling. Yes, I am a mush, but that's beside the point. The point is, that he is a sweet, mellow boy who'd been picked up as a stray in town. Sweet Boy's time had run out, and he needed to be adopted that day. Was I looking for another dog, no. But I couldn't let him die, either. The video really got to me. I emailed The Aussie, asking what he thought about a third dog, one who desperately needed our help. His reply: "Oh boy...will call you soon." When I told him what the situation was, he said "Go, get him. Send me a picture." So I called the shelter, emailed my boss to say I needed to take an early lunch hour, and at noon I headed to the shelter. When I got there the receptionist said that someone was already meeting him. *stops in tracks* Now what? I sat and waited, prayed for the best for Sweet Boy and to not be selfish because of what I wanted. About 10 minutes go by and a young woman walks out of the meet and greet room and tells me that I can go in. I poke my head in and smile at him, said hello sweet boy, and plunked down on the floor. He sniffed, let me pet him, had some treats while Shelter Man Joe told me about Sweet Boy. If it wasn't for the fact that he already had a "sticks like glue" dog at home, he would have loved to adopt Sweet Boy for himself. I hung out with Sweet Boy for a while, and by the time I had to leave, he was lying on the floor next to me, leaning in to me while I rubbed his head and his ears. He was still a little cautious, but seemed content. I looked at Shelter Man Joe, smiled and said I wanted to adopt Sweet Boy. So one day, and a rather "important" vet visit later, Sweet Boy came home. :) And they all lived happily ever after.

The moral of this story? Please save a life. Adopt a shelter dog or cat.

8 comments:

  1. Lump.in.throat. So happy for you and Sweet Boy!

    And we adopt all our cats from our local shelter :-)

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  2. I'm so happy for you and your (now a bit larger) family! Like I said over on my blog, I just knew there was a reason I hadn't told Joe to remove me from the shelter email list. :-)

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  3. What an adorable pooch!!! I wish we could have a dog....Maybe someday! =)

    Enjoy your new addition!

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  4. Our little rat terrier was a shelter dog and he is the best little dog! He follows me around like I'm mama duck and he is one of my ducklings. When I look at what a great dog he is and that someone just dumped him on the side of a country road my heart breaks. Well done girlfriend!

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  5. SUCH a sweet story! We got Aura from a local shelter. Tom was having a DREADFUL day at work and when he came home I suggested we take the drive out just to look. We had been talking about getting a dog and I knew that we would be able to make it to the shelter in time to take a little peek at who was there. And then we saw our pretty princess and she and Tom instantly fell in love with each other. They have a HUGE yard there and the two went out and ran around together and I knew she was going to be ours ... and she came home with us that evening.

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  7. So sweet. We got Seth, our lab from a rescue facility in town... He's been a great addition to our family and I just adore him!

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  8. Aw. Be still my heart! Our service dog will also be a rescue! You are a good woman.

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