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I am a huge animal lover, and have been fortunate with living in different places around the world that I have been able to own some pretty exotic animals, ranging from turtles and salamanders to squirrels to a civet cat and even a monkey at one point. I have a python I have owned for almost 25 years, as well as a parrot (had a mated pair at one point that brought - no BS - 34 chicks into the world through several clutches). In my family we've had dogs too, and each was considered a member of the family and almost treated as a sibling. All rescues.

I held off getting one for my own for years just because my lifestyle couldn't handle the responsibility, but when I eventually bought a house with a big backyard, it was only a matter of time before I got one. When the time was right 5 years ago, I adopted a young black and tan hound mix stray who was turned into the county shelter who no one wanted, and was scheduled to be euthanized. I paid $20.

Rusty is without question the greatest dog I have ever met. Adorable, loyal, extremely intelligent, handsome, and an amazing companion. People fall in love with him on sight, let alone after spending a few minutes with him. I am pretty sure my last two exes liked him more than they liked me. I am still stunned when I buy him toys and some cost more than he did. I actually feel guilty that I only paid $20 for him, but that was the discount rate to try to get someone to adopt him. How anyone was able to walk past his kennel and not want him still baffels everyone. If I could gift a cloned version of him to everyone on the planet, I would. During football season, he will actually line up alongside me while I'm sitting on the couch. Then I say, 'Hike', and he will run out 10 feet and turn in place for a pass in the living room, catching the football with his mouth and paws. You wouldn't believe it until you saw it. He had issues early on, and its obvious he was abused by someone before I got him, but those memories seem to be gone now.

I actually volunteered at the pound where I got him in college for a bit. I was pretty heartbreaking back then, as you could just tell by looking at a dog, who was adoptable, who was not, and who would end up getting euthanized. The moment the dog was passed his review date, he might be euthanized depending on the shelter's capacity. The same shelter today is no longer a kill shelter unless the dog is violent, or too sick. But many of these dogs would make amazing companions if just given the right environment in a home with caring people.

Which brings me to my next dog. For a long time I thought of getting Rusty a companion, but the more I looked for one around his age, I was drawn to the older dogs who obviously had a gakky life. I felt like I already had the perfect dog, why even try to find a second one? So I ended up being drawn to an 19lb older one that just looked like a pathetic mess. Matted hair, shy, infected eye that looked like he was blind in it. I asked about him and the list of health issues was staggering. Dental disease, terrible arthritis, enlarged heart, enlarged prostate, and a tumor on his rear area that was probably cancerous. The shocking part: no heartworm. This told me that this little guy was actually in someone's house and was just neglected FOR YEARS. I went home and talked it over with friends and family, as there was going to be some substantial cost to taking on this dog, weighed all the pros and cons, and went back for a final visit to decide. They told me he had been scheduled to be euthanized if a plea to any rescue group went unanswered in a couple of days. He just had too many health issues for your average person to take on. And like Rusty, would only cost $20 to adopt.

With that, there was no way I was going to be able to walk out of there without feeling like an donkey-cave, so I adopted him. I was sure they were going to have to carry him out to me because every time I saw him he sat in the back corner of his kennel in fear. But sure enough, the little bearded collie like mutt came out on his own with tail wagging. Its like they just somehow know.

As a mess as Cooper was, everyone fell in love with him. His issues were obvious, and my vet and I came up with a plan to address them, or manage them as he put it. The first was the bulge on his rear, since there was no point in addressing things like the dental disease if the cancer was going to kill him. Amazingly, we treated his eye, which healed and cleared! I couldn't believe he could see out of it. I got him groomed, and before long I was witnessing the little victories as I would call them, where he would greet me at the door when I came home from work, or bark at noises outside the house (meaning he now felt this new home was his to protect), or just wag his tail when I entered the room. He would never be able to run outside with Rusty, but that was okay. I was going to make sure his final years here would make up for the gakky life he had before. I scheduled a date with a surgeon to look into removing the buldge we assumed was a tumor after the third week of having him.

Shortly before that visit, he started getting sick. Throwing up everyday and losing interest in food as well as not wanting to go outside. My vet said we should still go to the surgeon as we needed to know what the tumor was, and if it was the reason he was sick, as it had even gotten bigger since I had him. So I took him to the animal hospital and they determined that the budge was not cancer, but just fat, and not the reason he was sick. After $900 in tests, it was found that he was in the final stages of kidney failure. They recommended immediate hospitalization, but after going through the costs, treatment, how there was no cure, how long he likely had left, and that I did not want him dying in a hosptial surrounded by strangers (as I eventually had to go back to work), I decided to take him home to live out his remaining days there.The crazy thing was while talking with the doctor, Cooper would look at me like he somehow knew we were talking about him. And when I went to the counter to pay, he walked to the front door like 'lets get out of here and go home'. I took him home and grilled him and Rusty a couple of ribeye steaks to bring up his mood. I could tell he had never had anything like that before.

The next day however, he was worse, and it was obvious he wouldn't last much longer. My vet confirmed there was nothing else to do, and with schedule issues I made the tough decision to put him to sleep. I have put dogs to sleep before but this one was especially tough.

I had Cooper for 26 days. All said and done, I spent some $2500 on a $20 dog. No regrets, I knew what I was getting into. It was just surprising to me that the thing we fear the most, the bulge, turned out to be the least of our problems, and the thing that killed him no one saw coming. Pretty gakky. His ashes sit in an urn in my family room.

So I took some time to pay off the credit card, then started looking for another dog. Cooper had a profound impact on me and I decided from here on out, that I would only adopt dogs that couldn't find homes for various reasons. I was not going to go easy and adopt a cute puppy anyone would love to adopt. I was going to go older again, but found a young Ladrador Retreiver mix the same size as Rusty who was turned in for having severe seperation axiety and was destructive inside the house. In reading the summary on him, I could see why he was at the shelter for so long, as it was easy to see how he would scare off anyone who would consider him. But I could also see that the previous owners were also idiots and didn't bother even to train him with a leash. Who knows what kind of environment he was in. So I pulled the trigger, really rolling the dice on this one as I risked having furniture and walls get schredded, and believe me, I do not want that.

So that being said, Koda is turning out to be one awesome dog. I took some time off work to ease him into his new environment and everything went surprisingly well. I actually think his time in the kennel, as terrible as it was to be abandoned, might have done some good for him, in that he was alone and had to deal with it. Plus Rusty has an amazing calmness about him, and I think that's actually calmed Koda down. The two have pretty much become partners in crime, and its been interesting watching his personality come out day to day. For me its pretty satisfying watching a dog no one wanted trot around the backyard with his tail wagging, then plop down to bathe in the sun. I think its moments like that is why I do this.

So the reason I have shared all this that if you are thinking of getting a dog, visit a shelter before spending big money on some pure bred that's probably from a puppy mill. I hate hearing about people who buy a dog for hundreds or even thousands of dollars when you have dogs at a nearby shelter who are practically free. Some might take more work than others, you certainly don't have to take one with the kind of issues I have. Most just need a caring owner and the rest just falls into place.

Dogs are amazing animals. You don't have to do much to make them think you are some out-of-this-world superhero. I don't know another creature that treats you the way that they do with just a little bit of love.

So go adopt a shelter dog!

Some years back, I figured my household could take on a second dog. Pretty quickly, I found a "small hound" about an hour's drive south, in a very rural area. The dog had been spared the kill shelter by a rich lady who endowed a program specifically to catch, neuter/spay, chip, and train/foster hunt club strays. Well we drove down to meet the dog and right away I was regretting it. She was a lot bigger in person and wouldn't come near us. I could tell the foster lady/trainer was eager to get rid of her to make room for the next candidate. It was clear the dog had been passed over before. I just wanted to find some way to say, sorry no thanks. But of course we took her home.

She found a corner and put her nose in it, sitting there shaking with her back to us. Pitiful thing. She wouldn't eat. She wouldn't do her business. A few days went by before she was comfortable enough to perform these essential functions. It seemed to me that she wasn't just a stray but had gone through some kind of trauma related to people. When I turned the light off at night, the last thing I saw was her looking up fearfully at me. Wake up in the morning and she was still staring, like she'd never dared to close her eyes all night long.

Working with her day after day, she started to open up just a tiny bit about six months in. A little more progress after a year. Then things took a major downturn. She had always had bad days, anxiety-wise. But I relly feared the worst when she refused to eat for three days. The vet confirmed she had swallowed her toy and her intestines were blocked. A couple thousand dollars later, I took her back home and laid her down on a new dog bed. She was still groggy from the drugs but I could tell she was fighting it. Even after more than a year, she was still debating whether she could afford to close her eyes around a person. Sitting there on the floor petting her, I knew we had reached a milestone when she finally put her head down on my knee and went to sleep.

Next morning she was still sleeping when I looked over to check on her. Now, if you want to accurately imagine this dog's personlity up to this point, think of Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh. But when she woke up that morning, her tail was wagging and she actually wanted to be pet. The next day she was cheery and wanted to run around outside. It was like a different dog. I joked with my wife that she must have felt like she was a goner but somehow she woke up feeling better than she could ever remember. So that finally built our foundation of trust.

A few years later, she actually greeted me at the door one evening when I came in from work. That was another major milestone. This dog has been a long, long project of patience.
She still has bad days, where she will get stressed over nothing I can see or hear and want to hide out under the bed. But most of the time, she likes to gallop around the yard then come in for a treat and curl up on the couch with my wife. I'm so glad I rejected every gut instinct I had when I first saw her. She's a lovely, sweet girl deep down and she's finally been able to express that with people in the last few years.

Absolutely love Doggies. But sadly work life prevents ownership. Otherwise I’d definitely adopt a Rescue

@manchu: Sad to hear about the abuse your dog no doubt went through before you. I am guessing that physically you might bare some resemblance to whoever abused her. Glad to hear she is overcoming it.

KTG17 and Manchu, you are good people.

We've got rescue cats (and rescue lizards and rescue tarantulas) and the big guy, Marely, has to get a tooth removed on Tuesday. hes a bit older now and we're terrified we won't get him back.

We're actually his third home, poor buggers have been through pillar to post and, the girl we got him and his brother Chewie from was living in a one bedroom flat with no garden. And these are BIG cats (British Shorthairs), made even bigger by no exercise and being fed too much.

When we took them on they weighed nearly 10 kg, they were round balls. And being in such a small area they were terrified of people as they had nowhere to hide.

Over the next year or so we got them down to a decent weight and they started to trust other people being around and now Marley is everyone's friend, I've never known such a trusting cat,

Sadly we lost Chewie to a brain tumour a while ago. Marley was pining for him, so after the emotional wounds had healed we got another rescue, Jacob, who Marley initially HATED but now its like they've been together forever, little cat bros.

Never had dogs, but we've always had cats.

Most of them just wandered off the street. Our two current boy cats were gotten from someone who was giving away free kittens. They're now 10 years old and are the sweetest guys ever. Our 2 girl cats are also rescues. They were literally thrown out with the garbage. Some lady found them in her dumpster, they got taken to a Vets office who is run by a friend. We ended up taking in these 2-3 week old kittens. The have some issues being bottle fed. One has an overeating problem and weighs 20 pounds. The other is just a twit/mischievous scamp who gets away with it only because she still looks like a kitten. But we love em.

Rodney is the sole survivor now that Rusty passed. Combined with a hurt back and he has gone full neurotic. He generally won't go out by himself, or just with me. He goes for car rides with me or walks with me and wife late at night. But it's really weird and a pain.you have to physically make him go outside and run back in faster than him. He's also quit barking.

Further to previous post, I have dogsat for a lovely rescue pooch.

He’s mostly Staffy and quite diddy, but definitely some Labrador there (it’s his begging face!)

Such a good natured soul. And very, very fond of my fluffy blankets during the winter! Sadly he’s now in Wales with his Mum, so I won’t be seeing his daft face for a while.

And remember. Not all Rescues are as hard work as others. Some just need a forever home, others need a steady, knowledgable parent to help them recover. And everything in between.

Everyone, love your Doggies, and give them a boop, a fuss and a biscuit from me!

Doggos are the best animals. Everyone who helps dogs deserves a medal! And ice cream.

 KTG17 wrote:


So the reason I have shared all this that if you are thinking of getting a dog, visit a shelter before spending big money on some pure bred that's probably from a puppy mill. I hate hearing about people who buy a dog for hundreds or even thousands of dollars when you have dogs at a nearby shelter who are practically free. Some might take more work than others, you certainly don't have to take one with the kind of issues I have. Most just need a caring owner and the rest just falls into place.

I agree completely, why people would help support breeding new dogs when we have so many that need homes is just beyond me.
The first my family had was a rescue i can't remember how she was at the start, but the bits i remember from when i was older, she was just amazing everyone loved her
she used to steal the sandwich's from the builders that were building our extension, and they would be off, but when they saw it was her, even though they knew she was well fed
they would just say "aww, have you not had enough yet, fatty" (she wasn't fat, I don't know where she put it)
The dog we have now was hiding at the back of the kennel, having wet himself, and was so shy when the door opened he whined so much the lady asked us to stay outside until he got used to us. That was 12 years ago (He's 14) and even my extended family consider him part of our own.
He gets bullied by our cats though (sisters from a rescue), they "meercat" and jump up to nuzzle him, and pin him down to clean his ears out
also this is a regular occurence until we stop it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfOumoFSs0k

Now if you excuse me i have a doggie to take for a walk

The first dog my father brought home was Emma, a mix of Karelian Bear Dog and "pystykorva" ie spitz of some sort. He did pay a token sum for the puppy just to show he was serious about giving her a home, and took her to the woods to see if she had any hunting instincts (he was a hunter when he was still in shape for it). She did like barking at (and thus marking) quite a few sorts of prey but had a particular hatred for so-called raccoon dogs, a sort of small scavenging pest. She'd herd them back to dad for him to kill even if he didn't have a gun with him, but an axe works as well ofc.

At home she was a good guard dog, never letting strangers surprise any family members. She did get a bit more aggressive and short-tempered as she aged, but never actually bit anyone (though I do remember her almost nipping someone's hand as a warning a few times). It's amazing how much faster than a human a dog like that can react. Other dogs, no matter the size, either submitted or crossed the street. She lived to a good fourteen years and we still miss her though we've had other dogs.