The Story of a Rescue!

Hello, hello!

Happy weekend! I cannot believe what a whirlwind the last few weeks have been. Bryan and I took a (somewhat impromptu!) trip down south to investigate some different cities (and landed in Myrtle Beach which was SO much fun). We came back for about three days before we headed off for Cape Cod with my family. Needless to say, it has been crazy times trying to get everything back to normal and I feel like I will never be fully unpacked, but one step at a time, I suppose.

ANYWAY, today, I thought I would share a dog-related post with you guys. Read on for the story of how Allie came into our lives and how I came to be obsessed with pet rescues and animal shelters. Don’t get me wrong, I love ALL animals no matter where they come from, but there is a little (okay fine, it’s not so little at all…) piece of my heart that has RESCUE written allllll over it. Just the other day at work, someone was showing off pictures of their purebred Newfoundland puppies and boasting about how much she paid for them… #don’tcare. Honestly, I suppose I do understand the appeal of choosing your “dream” dog —size, colors, parents, blah blah blah. But with the number of sweet, loving, desperate dogs and puppies in shelters, I can NOT understand buying breeder pups. I know there are perks and pluses, but it’s not for me.

As you all know, back in May, Bryan and I adopted our first dog together! I grew up with a dog (Rudy, she lives with my mama. She’s a riot and I’m just as obsessed with her as I am with Allie,) but Bryan had never had one before! We talked about it a TON, there were so many things to consider: Were we ready for a new addition? Could we comfortably afford it? Did we have the room in our apartment? We thought on it for quite a while and finally, just before my birthday, we decided to take the plunge! For my 25th birthday, Bryan presented me with a birthday card saying “let’s go pick our puppy!”

There was a short time where I was convinced that I wanted a bull dog.

One of these little dudes:

I’m not sure when my bulldog obsession began (probably when one of my Instagram friends adopted a bulldog puppy and started posting the silliest, cutest pictures of him. Suggestible, much?)

Well, come to find out, these dogs have, what may be, the world’s shortest life expectancy. They are oftentimes plagued with some pretty serious health problems and are generally just tough to care for. Their many health problems have led to some SERIOUS breeding issues and some major interventions need to happen in order to have a litter (think: artificial insemination, C-sections, and more). After tons and tons of research, it just didn’t seem like the smartest choice for us.

We talked about whether we wanted to: find a breeder (we quickly vetoed that idea…see above rant); look for a specific breed (either at shelters or in the newspaper); or head to a shelter randomly to find our new addition.

Just a couple of days later, we made a trek to a rescue shelter that was about 15 miles away from home and played with some of the world’s sweetest puppies around.

We were very open to dogs of age–from puppies to adult dogs, we met them all!

(Note: I am THRILLED to report that both of these sweet little lovebugs got homes that very same week! God bless the work of no-kill shelters.)

Animal shelters really are so incredibly heartbreaking. I really did just want to save them all. I can NOT believe the pain that some of them have seen, and thinking about their sweet faces waiting for a forever home kills me.

As we wandered up and down the aisles of pups, we met little Allie May!

Allie May was a 6-month old puppy from down south who was found on the side of a busy highway. The thing that struck us (but also made us nearly miss her!!!!!!) was the fact that she didn’t bark! At all! Even in the midst of dozens of barking, jumping, howling, noisy dogs, she was content and quiet in her small run. I pointed her sweet face out to Bryan and before we knew it, we were playing with her out on the lawn, grabbing sticks to play with and falling more and more in love with her.

Before we left the site, we filled out the adoption application for her and made plans to return just a few days later for pickup!

Leaving that wiggly little thing behind, even knowing that we would soon return, was so, so hard, but I swear she knew what it meant when we promised her that we’d be back soon.

That night, we spent our time puppy-proofing our home and collecting all of the necessities to bring our fur baby home with us!

Since that day, Allie has gained over twelve pounds! She has grown into a sweet, loving, incredibly feisty little thing who keeps us on our toes! She has filled our days with love and laughs and we couldn’t be more grateful.

If you are considering welcoming a pet into your life, please, please, please consider rescuing. It will change your world. I really do think that there are just so many misconceptions about rescuing animals (they get a bad rap, they really, really do) that many people are needlessly sheepish about it! Also, keep in mind that with the advent of some very popular animal adoption websites, it is now easier than EVER to find just about any breed that you could ever want.

I keep seeing t-shirts and bumper stickers and coffee mugs with the saying “Who Rescued Who?” and a big paw print. I couldn’t agree more.

Xoxo

Me!