Adopt a Shelter Dog Month: Share Your Story!by Aimee Amodio | More from this Blogger 01 Oct 2008 07:22 AM October is Adopt a Shelter Dog month! If you've been thinking about rescuing a pet from a local shelter, this is a good time to do it. (Okay, there isn't really a BAD time to save a pet from a shelter, is there?) There are so many wonderful pets sitting in shelters for various reasons. Maybe their owners had an unexpected health issue and had to surrender them. Maybe a soldier was deployed and couldn't find a new home for a beloved pet. Maybe an abandoned dog or cat had a litter in the wild and was picked up by animal control. Every animal sitting in a shelter has a story, and too many of them don't get a chance to make their stories known. I know there are a lot of Families.com members and staff who adopted or rescued their pets... and I want to take an opportunity to shine a HUGE spotlight on all of you! Tell me about your shelter pets. Tell me how you found them (or how they found you). Talk about your struggles in the early days as you got used to each other. Times like this, I wish my dogs could speak English. I'd love to know about Lally's life before I adopted her from the Rutland County Humane Society in Rutland, Vermont. Why was she a stray? What happened to the litter of puppies she had? Why does she have a persistent fear of ceiling fans? It's been amazing to watch her transform from the scared little piddler that came home with me in September 2003 to the funny, smart, loving girl who shares my home today. I also wonder why Moose's family gave him up. He was surrendered to the shelter for being "too stubborn". Did they not have enough time to spend with him? And my Miko... what was his life like for the seven years before we met? He was definitely a case of the dog picking the owner -- he sat at the shelter for three months and NOBODY looked at him before I came along. He gave me the eye, licked my nose, and that was it. I was sunk! But somebody must have taught him tricks and fed and loved him. I talk about my shelter dogs a lot. I want to hear about yours now! Happy Adopt a Shelter Dog month, everybody. Learn more about Aimee Amodio  Aimee is a fiction writer... dog lover... music lover... Relevantpets tags User Comments laurabeadle (356) 01 Oct 2008 09:29 AMMy dog Ebony did not come from the shelter but she had been left at a teaching school. My Mom fell in love with her and had to bring her home. Her original family loved her but when they moved from their apartment they left her locked in a closet. The apartment manager did not check the apartment for 3 days. This caused a great deal of separation anxiety. Ebony was a black Lab/German Sheppard mix - all black all loveable. From the time she joined us in 1996 until I had to put her to sleep in 2007 she was the most fun loving dog I had ever had. After a short painful blending into a housed with 4 cats she even adopted the cats as her family. BTW my cats (now numbering 3) are also shelter cats.  Courtney Mroch (9169) 01 Oct 2008 12:05 PMMurph was a shelter dog. He picked us and I'm so happy he did. While he had his surgery I had to endure 2 days without him, and that was excruciating. I like the one blog you once wrote about your house rule, Aimee. About how Moose and Lally are forbidden from crossing the Rainbow Bridge. I wish we could make it so they're with us till our dying day and we could all cross together. But I guess their time is short for a reason. I don't know what that reason is, but...I'm sure there must be one. Great article. suzi529 (5) 01 Oct 2008 02:18 PMMy dog Jada came from the pound, I was looking for a companion for my golden retriever to play with. When I was walking threw the pound looking at all the dogs (heart breaking to see so many) she put her little paw threw the cage and gave me that little look of hers that I fell in love with right away. We took her home and to the vet the next day, found out she had heart worms so we got her treated and now 3 months later she is healthy and happy, She is the best little dog who is so thankful to be alive. Everyday is a wonderful day for Jada and everyone around her. She makes sure of that, she is a Love.  Aimee Amodio |
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