[redshoe]

Lady was a border collie that my other half rescued from the shelter several years before I met him. She was that One Dog - you know that dog that everyone seems to have, that they judge all other dogs by? She was mine. She passed away in early February of last year, of lung cancer. We tried everything, but it was very aggressive and the doctors couldn't get the whole mass. I still cry for her, and I'll bet I always will. I did earlier today, in fact. And yesterday. I miss my Lady-girl so much.

Buster was a stray. He found my other half at a convenience store and decided to keep him. I'll never forget when he (other half, not Buster) called me at work and said, "honey, I just wanted to let you know that there's a beagle in the laundry room." We searched for his family for a month, and turned up nothing. By that time it was obvious that he fit well into our household, so we decided to keep him.

Lucky was a foster. He was a mixed breed, possibly beagle / dalmatian. Other half found him under a dumpster behind the store he owns on Christmas Eve a year ago. He was a young dog, maybe a year old, but we couldn't tell what color he was because he had such a bad case of mange that he was completely bald. No hair whatsoever. And this was in the middle of winter, mind you. There was freezing rain that night, and we doubt he would have made it until morning. He had a couple of different kinds of worms, also, and his stomach was messed up, presumably from having been eating garbage for however long. We spent the next several months nursing him back to health and finding him a home with a family that was as energetic as he was (which is considerably more energetic than WE are!), so all's well that ends well with Lucky.

Rhett was a shelter dog and another mixed breed, maybe golden retriever / afghan. He was a wonderful, wonderful dog. He was intended to be my dog, and he knew it...when the shelter workers brought him out to us, he immediately came up to me and buried his head in my lap. When I pulled out his new collar to "show" him, he stuck his head right through it and held his chin high like the king that he was. Rhett had several health issues...hookworm, roundworm, a nasty cough, and he had just been neutered. He had licked his underside to the point that it was raw, bleeding and infected. He had no fleas, but there was a tick embedded in his muzzle. A week after he came home, he developed a twitch in the top of his head, and it soon became evident that he had contracted distemper before his vaccinations were given to him. We fought so hard for him, and he fought too, but ultimately we lost him. The day after he was gone, some of his lab results came back and it turned out that he'd also had rocky mountain spotted fever. I doubt he ever really had a chance, my poor beautiful boy.

Carly came home from the shelter a week ago tomorrow. She's an 8-9 month old golden retriever puppy, and she's my dog. She's such a sweet girl...a little rambunctious and chewy, but actually less than I'd expect from a dog that age and breed, and she learns very quickly. She's going to be fabulous!

Riddle came home Thursday. We were at the shelter visiting Carly when we ran across him...he's a border collie mix (probably has some german shorthair pointer in him), and because of Lady, we have a huge soft spot for border collies, so we knew that he had to come home with us too. He's a phenomenal dog. He's got a couple different kinds of worms, and kennel cough. Because of Rhett we're a little gun-shy about the kennel cough (that's what Rhett's distemper started out looking like), so we'll be on pins and needles for the next week or two. Our favorite thing so far about Riddle is that he sleeps on his back with all of his legs poking up in different directions. It doesn't look comfortable in the least, but who are we to judge?

Those are our rescues!

[MushPuppies]

I was station at Redstone Arsenal and my husband and kids went to the pound. I told them I wanted something like a younger German Shepared, Rott or Dobey. He ended coming home with this skinny, petrified, little Collie. He was past his kill date, but the shelter had enough room so they kept him. They said he only had another day. Well hubby felt sorry for him and brought him home. This guy was just a fur covered skeleton. His backbone, hips and ribs were so protruded. His coat was one big knot. He was scared of everybody and everything, so much so that he would lay in one spot, shaking and peeing on himself. Whoever had him before really did a job on him. He was to scared to move and would definitely not walk through a door opening. It took a few months to get him physically looking like he was supposed to, but the mental issues took a lot longer.We would have to pick him up to take him outside or through any door, but he eventually learned that he wasn't going to get hurt anymore. He is the sweetest, smartest, most lovable dog and I don't know how anyone could have treated him how they did. He was just a puppy when we got him. He has went with us from base to base until we finally settled down on a small farm. He now spends his days lounging by the side of the lake, keeping the other dogs in line and giving us unconditional love. Maxx is 16 now, but still doing great.

[Ruby'sMum]

This is my beautiful little boy, Teddy. Teddy is a chow mix and is 3 years old and weighs about 50 pounds. We got him from the Humane society which was a 3 hour drive from us. We got him a few days before he was going to be put to sleep, all because no one wanted him . I saw him online and just had a feeling about him. My poor husband indulged me and drove the 3 hours each way so we could meet Teddy (who came home with us that day!). He is extremely cuddly and very obedient. My husband and I (and my girl dog Ruby) love him very much. He's such a character!!

[scintillady]

I have a rescued girl dog named Ruby also! This her "adoption" picture! (about 4 months ago)

[aag620]

Mister - We recently rescued a mix puppy after we saw adds at the local hospital looking for famillies for 5 puppies that were found freezing and starving in the cold Saskatchewn winter. He comes from an area where puppies are not treated with much love, they're kicked out into the cold or they are skinned alive and stabbed to trees. The rescuers even told us that people had been cruel enough to open all the windows in the house, chain the dogs up, and to make matters worse, plug the drains, open the taps and let the water flow onto the floor. They had found a few puppies with their paws frozen in ice, and they had to be put down.

He is a small creamy white colour puppy with the curiousity that far exceeds Curious George. He is into everything... and especially likes to chase the cat because he knows he's still small enough to go under the bed.

The only thing is, he has these scabby-like boils all over his skin. The people we got him from had given him some flea baths, and said that has irritated his skin and the itching will stop, but the itching is getting worse and he's at the point where he's trying to pull his fur out at times. We were recently sprayed fo bed bugs in our apartment and i was just wondering that if he had fleas on him, would the fleas have been killed by the bed bug pesticides? I'm starting to wonder if he's getting these boils because of flea bites and the flea shampoo... I dropped a bottle of body lotion onto the ground the other day and the head broke off. When I looked into it today, there was a bug, but I'm not sure if it is a flea or not. It sure is small enough to be. Any thoughts?

[dogs daddy]

I need to tell "Mr.McGregor's" story. I found this little cole black Cairn Terrier running in a big highway intersection. I stopped and picked him up! After know one responded to notices in the paper I kept him. I tried to take him into the house and he panicked. As I have a lardge fenced yard he was happy there for 15 years. He never did get to like inside. He was gray and snow white after all those years! He was always ready to romp and play with the family and the other dogs You couldn't ask for a better little friend and watchdog. He's gone now and it will be a long time before I get used to not being greeted as I enter the back yard!

[progirlz]

I went to the Pound and brought home a Husky/Malamute mix. He was found roaming around. He was 53 lbs when we brought him home. He was dying, had a bad case of Kennel Cough. Poor guy...well 3 yrs later he is 105lbs and VERY Healthy. He's a good boy. Thus his name...Good Boy Scout. I also have a Keeshond BooBoo...he is not a rescue.

My "kids"

[MartiMcBeagle]

Marti, Female Beagle...our lab picked her out at the pound!

[Gypsy22]

Ours is named Luna (after the character in Harry Potter). Thanks to some helpful people on here, we've determined she's at least part English Pointer.

She's a lovely puppy. Sweet and good...smart as a whip at just 11 weeks.



Too bad the person who turned in or abandoned her & her littlemates in North Carolina will never know what a gift they gave us. She's going to be raised as a true Yankee dog! Up here in Vermont we say Yankee with pride!!! And we LOVE our pets.

[gizmobaby]

Her name is Ariel. She's an Australian cattle / Australian shepherd mix. She's really nice and obedient. My mom loves her. Unfortunately, she has high heartworm positive and my mom and I are going to treat her after 2 weeks (she just got spayed recently).

The shelter told me that animal control found her off the highway and so they brought her in to the shelter. Not much is known before that. I'm kind of interested about her past..but I'm happy for her present She is truly a beauty!

[Sunshyne]

12 years ago, when I was 19 and living with a good friend in a not-so-good part of the state (we were young, single and broke!).... we met a 9 month old pitbull named Tyson (of course!). We later found out he was being trained to fight but he wasn't getting as big as they hoped (friends of a friend were doing this horrible dog fighting). My friend asked them if we could "buy" the dog off them, as we were horrified at what was going to happen to him. They agreed. Tyson was the best dog ever, very well trained and sweet as pie.

Two months after, just driving around, we came across another pit wandering around. He was bloody, scarred, full of cuts and very scared. Bravely, and maybe a bit stupidly, we scooped him into our car and rushed him to our vet. The vet thought we were crazy and told us he should be put down as he is a fighting dog and always will be. We didn't care, if he could get well, we wanted him. After a quarantine, stitches, shots, looking for his "owners" (what a joke), he did get well and we named him "Scarface" as his poor body had scars everywhere. He, as well, turned out to be a very sweet loving dog.

A year after, we heard about another young pit - kind of the same story as Tyson. We "bought" her too and she was great!!!

Scarface developed cancer and was put to sleep 5 years later, my friend took Tyson when we went our separate ways and he passed a few years ago from natural causes. The third puppy is alive and well, though pretty fat! She is with a friend in the "country" and enjoying her senior years.

I know how hard it is to rescue, and all of you who do are awesome!!! Because of my personal circumstances at this time, (32, single parent to a ten year old girl, full time social worker) I decided to go with a pug puppy and it is working out well! You all have my respect!

[K9 Conversation]

Rescued a Belgian Malinois that was headed for the Dept. of Defense..but the contract fell thru and was basically given to the rescue group.. Her name is Tara.

[minrice41sec]

Macie!

Found her at the Humane Society of Missouri in St. Louis (great people by the way!). She was picked up as a stray, so no one really knows her history. She was very thin, you could count all of her bones! She was cowering in the corner of her kennel looking very scared.
When they took her out so I could get a better look at her she immediately came over and curled up on my lap! I had to take her home!
She remained at the humane society for the next few days to recieve treatment for her kennel cough and worms. Then my husband and I brought her home and on the car ride she curled up on my lap and went to sleep.

She is a sweetheart of a dog, so loving. She also has a silly side and she keeps us laughing. She has fattened up, and as the only "child" of newlyweds she is very spoiled and doted on.
Her biggest issues are housebreaking and shyness, I'm working with her on both and she has made great progress since she came home. We just love her!

[Mac'N'Roe]

Hello. Thought I'd share this wonderful story with you guys...as it appears that it would be appreciated here. It's kind of a long story...but worth the wait. It may even make you cry a bit...a happy cry. And, the pictures are great too!

Late last summer I began seeing a stray dog roaming around my house. I lived in a duplex apartment in a large historical home in the city. I would see her once a week or so, then more often. I onced saw her crossing a busy street and I began to worry more. I didn't want to start feeding her, because I knew I'd get attached..but after a while and seeing her more often, I knew she was living nearby and I just couldn't take it anymore. I also noticed that she was pregnant (I was a gonner). There was an abandoned home next to my house and she apparently had found the crawl space underneath the house and was living there.

The day I began to feed her, I was so scared that she hadn't made it through the 30 minutes that it took to go get the food...she looked that bad. Well, days went by. and weeks went by. I was feeding this dog that wouldn't let me 20 feet near it. She would bark at me and then run into the crawl space if I got too close. She wasn't very friendly looking. She got into the habit of coming up to my backyard if I hadn't fed her yet and notifying me that it was feeding time. It was pretty funny.

About 6 weeks went by. I hadn't seen or heard any sign of the puppies. Her teats were definitely there...but couldn't see or hear anything. And then, my world changed. While she was out roaming, the most adorable little things finally emerged to the entrance to the space. So adorable. I immediately went to get puppy food. I wasn't sure how old they were. Looking back, probably 5 weeks. A couple of them followed mama to the food bowl and I bravely approached. Mama stepped back to the crawl space and let me pet one of her pups. I was amazed (and scared). I decided to try to get the pups the next day, late in the morning after my tennis match. (I know 5 weeks is early...but in this situation there was really no choice. It was better than the alternative of her moving them.)

The next day (Saturday), I went over using the same method (feed and approach) and was able to grab two! Then went back, one of them approached me and I took her and ran. The other two were a little more difficult. They stayed close to mom and I started to get wary of her. My brother-in-law helped and was managed to grab one that afternoon, and the last one the next day. So, here I am with five adorable pups. We (my sister, niece and I) named them "Mac", "Roe", "Boris", "Connors", and "Lewis".

They were Flea ridden!!!!!!!!! I bathed them all and tried to get rid of the fleas. Amazingly enough, I was successful and didn't get fleas in the house either. I got a little crate for them and carried them out to the front yard in a plastic bin to do their business . But soon enough, mom was around and I then had to start driving them down the street to go potty. She figured this out, and was CHASING me down the street every time we went out. It was a nightmare. Mama also got into my house once while I was gone...and she them began cornering me at the back door. SHE WANTED IN. Now remember, this is a stray, not so friendly looking pit mix (bully lovers...don't worry...it's a happy ending!). The mom scared me, so I called Animal Control not knowing what else to do. I would have taken her to a shelter myself if she would have let me get a little closer. Well of course, she ran under the house and wouldn't come out. So, AC couldn't do anything. The nice family next door (mom and two daughters...the dad didn't approve) came over and notified me that they wanted to keep the mom. Apparently, they had been feeding her also. So, I said okay and notified the AC.

Outside my door, I looked at this mama and began to talk with her (baby talk, "hey there, etc.). She smiled at me and began wagging her little behind and I said to myself, "This dog isn't gonna hurt me" I faced my fear, came outside and sat on my front steps and reached my hand (slowly) out to ask her to approach (I may have even had a treat, don't remember). She slowly did, sniffed my hand and ran. She did this a few times. She even started to run towards me playfullly (scared the crap out of me) but I stood there and greeted her approach. I managed to get the dog to follow me to the neighbors and she let me put a collar on her too!

Monday morning came around, I had to go to work..but how could I with five puppies to take care of? I couldn't continue with this routine...we (my SO and I) decided to take them to the local shelter for adoption (cute puppies, no worries, right?) When I originally found them, I had decided to keep two, then it went to one, and by the time we drove up to the shelter, my SO decided we couldn't handle even one. I wasn't prepared to let them all go!!!! I had already decided on the ones I wanted to keep. So, here I am in front of the local humane society with a bucket full of puppies. My two chosen ones in my arms...crying like a baby. What a scene. He walks out and says they can't accept them...no room. A smile covered my tearful face. Happy as I was, what was I going to do now?

Well, the previous day we had gone out and taken pictures of the puppies just for this reason. Pictures of all but the one I was going to keep. At 10:00, I sent my first email. (The neighbor who owns the house happens to be the local person who distributes emails for animals in need of rescue...how convenient). I sent pics to him, local agencies, friends, relatives...etc. You wouldn't believe it, but within 24 hours, they were all claimed. Now, the first one claimed was one of the original two I was going to keep. Her new owner didn't show up that night. Three others were picked up at noon the next day (two went to the same home), and then there were two left. Unbelievable!!!!!

By the time we had only two left, and the mom safely contained..we had decided to definitely keep one (Roe). I had this funny feeling about the last one (Mac). I called the girl that was going to take Mac, and she had left work for the day. She was either sick, or home getting the house puppy ready. Well, she was supposed to pick up Mac at 7:00, and At 7, she called and said she was sick, hadn't been out all day and couldn't make it. I decided that she wasn't responsible enough...she couldn't even make a phone call to notify me earlier? She emailed me the next day to see if she could pick him up that night, I said no...I had decided to keep him.

So, that's the story of Mac'N'Roe and how they came into my life. These were my original two I had chosen (hence the name making sense), and it was meant for me to have them. I'm the proud owner of these two beautiful puppies. The mom is in a great new home and take care of! Happy ending all around!!!

They are now 5 months old, house-trained, Roe is in obedience training (well, I guess you'd say I'm in obedience training). I'm going to work with Mac on my own. Roe is the more distracted one and needs it the most. Mac is SUPER SMART and is a quick learner!!! Much easier to work with!

So, now I'm obsessed with my puppies, dogs in general. I'll post the pics now..as I'm sure you all (if you are still with me) are dying to see. Thanks for letting me share.

Here's the gang. From left to right (looking at the photo) are
Boris, Roe, Mac, Connors, and Lewis


Mac


Roe

[Jennofthejungle]

My current rescue is Birdy. She is a Dalmatian. Though I think she believes she is human.

I had lost my big boy to cancer only 4 months prior and really didn't feel ready to get a new dog, but a nosy co-worker kept e-mailing me her Petfinder Picture.

She was picked up off the streets of Tijuana Mexico and brought to the Baja Animal Sanctuary. There she was adopted by a woman who already had two dogs. Her two dogs hated sweet little 6 month old Birdy and she was put "back on the market".

They said she was a year old and potty trained as well as basic commands, and this was FALSE. LOL. Birdy was a wild animal. Turned out she was maybe 6 months old, in the middle of her teething and was not trained to do a single thing, including walk on a leash or sit.

It took about 3 months to get her reasonably trained, she destroyed half the house and drove us to our wits end. Once she crossed the 4 month mark, she became one of the most fantastic dogs in the world. On the 3rd of March it will have been a year. I could not imagine life without her. She is the sweetest most loving dog in the world.

See her here:

www.sdhumane.org/goto/birdy

Great stories here.

[symons]

Troy is our last shelter dog. We adopted him from a local pound in NJ and had no information about him except that he came from a high kill shelter in Kentucky. He was 1 1/2 years old when we adopted him and he's a black lab. I rremember that the largest part of his entire body back then was his head - he was so thin. He was scared of everything and everybody (including us) and would pee all around the house. But we worked with him and gave much love and attention. We have never had a lab before so we learned as we went and vice versa.

Now exactly 1 year later, he is a beautiful, healthy and happy dog. Sure he has his accidents now and then when strangers come to the house but he seems to be slowly overcoming it.

[gills]

I came across a picture of Turbo on the internet last October - she had been saved by a German rescue group who pulled her out of a killing station in Pamplona, Spain. I was still grieving (and always will) for my wonderful 16-year old border collie who died in late August, and I had promised myself I would wait six months before thinking about another dog. But not having a dog in my life left a big hole, and there was something about Turbo's picture that grabbed me. A couple of weeks later I looked again, and she was still available, and had been brought to a foster home here in Munich. I decided to go see her, and knew right away I would bring her home. She is a happy, extraordinarily loving little girl who has brought a lot of joy back into a sad house.

[ILuvCanines]

We adopted both Kenzie (right) and Chubby (left) after seeing them on Petfinder.com. I really have to stay away from that site. They are both Bernese Mountain mixes, and very gentle.

Kenzie we've had for 4 1/2 years. Chubby we've had for almost 2 months. They are starting to really like each other, and even pay attention to each other sometimes. We are on vacation in our RV right now, so they have had a lot of time in close quarters lately without any problems.



Rescue mutts. They're the best.

[Doyles-a-Royal]

All the dogs we've owned have been rescued

First is Henderson, a staffy/boxer. We had to give him back to the kennel because he kept attacking dogs =(. But he wouldn't have got put to sleep as in the UK, unless te dog is really ill, they wait until they get homes. Also we trained him a lot after the first attack, but then it was just ONE dog he hated, a little Westies, and yeah... =(
(sorry these pics are poor quality, I took a pic of a pic)


The second was Babe, a rough haired JRT. She was such a lovely, loya dog. We miss her so much xD <3
(again sorry for the quality)


And the current doggy Brandy. She was about 4 months when we got her. My uncle works for the police in Essex, and Brandy got handed in there (no idea why) so we my uncle gave her to us =)

[bordercollielover]

My famiy adopted Jack. At the time, he was only eight months old. We rescued him from a man that kept him in a pen all of the time (he said he had only been out once or twice!) and was selling him for fifty dollars! He is the most beautiful dog!