[Dwayners]

We have an 11 year old Border Collie that my wife got from rescue 7 years ago. His name is Hardy and he's a pretty good dog, although he thinks too much. Border Collies I guess, always trying to be one step ahead of you. Hardy had a bad past and still screams a lot if he thinks you are going to hurt him. I'd prefer if he stopped thinking so much altogether.

We also recently acquired a 3 year old German Shorthaired Pointer, her name is Michigan because we got her from a shelter in Ann Arbor, MI. Michers is also scared of being hurt and she bit me really good just after we got her (she'd pooped on the floor and thought I was going to beat her, I guess...probably shouldn't have caressed her neck while she was in the submit pose) but we have not had many more incidents like that so I hope she knows I won't be mean to her like the person who abandoned her in the night, in a crate, outside the shelter where she stayed for 4 months. She does tend to growl a fair bit but that's pointers, always chatty. Michers is our second, a replacement, if you will, for the one in my avatar...

Andy was our first shorthair and came to us via shelter as an owner surrender of 8-9 years. we thought it odd that someone would get rid of their hunting dog simply for being too old. We put Andy down after she lost the use of her right front leg due to cancer. even at nearly 11 years old she was really active, happy, fun and probably the best dog ever (she made Chewbacca noises all the time). Very sad, the whole ordeal was awful, from the diagnosis, pills carrying her up and down the stairs and driving to the park. still, she's always with us so that's ok. I'm glad we had the time together that we did and I would do it all over again.

[rocketdog]

My dogs name is Dixie. I got her when she was 6 weeks old. She came from a kill shelter. With 6 other puppies.

[Yvette]

Recently adopted Chase the Puggle mutt
http://files.dogster.com/pix/dogs/94...1212972535.jpg
He's a Puggle I got from Craigslist for free.
I want to think that I did a good thing? There is a 2 dog limit in the city & this lady decided to give him up. She had 3 dogs. She originally bought him at a glorified Puppy Mill here in MA. She was intending on breeding him. He's 11 months, Not nuetered & has a cherry eye. I told her that I am not into breeding & that he will be nuetered. She was OK with that. She gave me all his puppy papers. She also mentioned that he was not housebroken. That's OK though. She gave me his crate. He's doing good so far. He is a neat little dog. Very friendly.

[3dogsplus]

All four of mine are rescues of some sort!
Tripod is a "who-done-it" that came into the local emergency clinic after playing tag with a car. The owners could not afford to treat her and gave her to them. They amputated her hind leg and I adopted her. You would never know she only has three legs and she likes to think she is queen of our castle.
Izzy is a chow/border collie mix that a friend found wandering down the middle of a busy road. Rather than take her to the local shelter, I adopted her.
Dreyfus is a stray black lab that came to the local emergency clinic, thin and with an injury to his back leg (knee cap out of joint and top of femur borken off). We knew with his injuries that he would be euthanized if he went to the humane society. As my previous lab had just died, I adopted him and had his leg fixed. He thinks ANYTHING in a plastic is potential food!
And last but not least is Nora. She is a greyhound but never saw a track. She was bred locally and found to have a congenital liver problem. Although the breeder did the necessary surgery, it did not work. I adopted her so that she could get the proper diet needed for her liver (breeder had 14 other dogs and Nora would steal thier food) and thought she would live about 6 months. Almost 4 year later, she is still with me!

[pittyluv]

Our rescue is "spooky".

I April of this year I posted an ad looking for a furry friend for our now 4 year old American pitbull. A local woman came into contact with us and told us of the then 8 month old lab/pitbull mix that she knew of in Bancroft.

The family had been given this wonderful pup as a christmas gift and the parents absolutely refused to keep her because of her pitbull background. The woman I spoke with said if they couldnt find her a home they were going to have her euthanized.

So we took action, had a vet deem her "lab mix" and had her shipped here. We have Amada (the woman who told us about her) $150 towards her home run animal rescue business and have now completely fallen in love with our new addition to the family.

Upon receipt of Spook, we were informed that she had no leash manner and wouldn't come when called....but dogs are more aware of people than we ourselves are. They know when they are comfortable and when someone loves them and she came around no problem. She has those typical lab puppy problems ie/ chewing on things, barking at birds and squirrels and what not and being insanely hyper but all in all she is just a wonderful dog and we wouldnt trade her for anything else in the world. Also what is good about out deeming from the vet is that she safe from the "pitbull ban"...As if our 4 year old pitbull Zeus because he is under the grandfather clause.

Zeus was actually a rescue as well. My boyfriend was dating this girl a few years ago (before we met) and she was a drug addict and was constantly beating the dog. He has a 5 inch scar on this right hind leg from where she attacked him with a razor blade of some sort and when he left her, he took the dog with him...so I applaud him for that.

Anyway both of our dogs and extremely well-behaved and good mannered dogs. They are loving and so smart.

I love rescue stories....its good to know there are good people out there!!

[knaptama]

WE have Marley. He came to us from my brother. My brother found him wandering around his yard for a few days and took him in and fed and watered him. No one claimed him and the police oked it for him to do what he wanted with the little guy. Since he already had two big dogs and didnt really have time/room for a third, my fiance and I adopted him. Its only been a few weeks but he's sweet and he's getting on fine, little aggression problem but we are hoping we can fix that

[MuttHunter]

My only 'dog rescue' so far was of a puppy--maybe 3 or 4 months old? I am not so good at guessing ages.--that was outside a subway station near my home at the time (long, long ago). He was some kind of mix of GSD and a smaller rangy breed, maybe a hound ( I will try and locate a photo). He was standing about 30 feet away from the stairs searching the exiting passengers with this 'Have you seen my Mommy?' expression on his face. He was a bit frightened when I approached him but clearly wanted to find a human he could trust, so he let me get close after a couple of minutes of talking to him. He was dirty and underfed, and had no collar, just some plastic twine wrapped around his neck with a snapped end that I assume he must have been tied up with at some point.

He didn't really get the concept of walking on a leash (or twine) until aafter a few days, so I picked him up and took him to my apartment. I had nothing to feed or bathe him with and no other dog gear, so I stashed him in the bathroom while I made a quick dash to the local pet store, which, fortunately, was not far away. By the time I got back he had managed to get poop all over the bathroom floor and himself--I am sure he was scared, poor little guy. He hated getting a bath, but put up with it bravely, and by the time I had finished toweling him off he was crying to crawl onto my lap.

I could not keep him at the time as my lease expressly forbade dogs, but fortunately, my buddy Jim, the first friend I called about him after I had taken the pup to the vet the next day, told me he 'had been thinking about getting a dog, and might take a look.' Of course having actually seen my orphan, his will immediately crumbled. I had just been calling him 'puppy' but he was shortly dubbed Homer.

Although he was only fully 'mine' for about a week, I was able to enjoy Homer's company for many years, and he was a steadfast and enthusiastic hiking companion for me and Jim on many expeditions into the Catskills and Appalachians. When Jim later married and became a human father, after sniff and giving a investigative lick to the new baby's toes, took on the job of baby guardian.

Good boy Homer!

[notamamayet]

My husband and I adopted four month old "hurley" from a local no kill shelter at the end of May. He and his mom were seized by a vet from a puppy mill. Near as we can tell, they weren't abused at all- just terribly abandoned. Both mom and Hurley were underweight, VERY skittish, and terrified to ask for love. When we first brought him home he would sit 3 feet away and whine for love, but would run away if you moved towards him. Once you put your hand on his back, he would stop and sit, and then when you picked him up he would curl up and sleep for hours- he loves contact, he's just afraid to ask for it!

Hurley is a papillon cross (we think it's long hair chihuahua, but not sure). We think he's going to be around 8-10lbs. He looks like a long lanky teenager right now, but he's finally putting on weight. He was named Hurley after the character from Lost as they have lots in common- bad luck, lovable, his mexican background... and he will eat anything! His favorite is the dust bunnies.

Hurley is growing by leaps and bounds and we're so proud how much more sociable he's getting. He's even trying to assert his independence by jumping up on the couch, even though he gets yelled at by daddy. I can't wait until he finishes his shots and gets neutered so we can socialize him a little more, as they said at the shelter that he loved the other dogs there.

[mcknkc]

Originally Posted by case sensitive

Sally, my basset/shepherd mix.

I recently rescued a basset/shepherd mix, Bella. What an odd combination! She is such a cutie! She's approximately 6 months old. Most people look at her at laugh but she doesn't care - she loves the attention. My brother-in-law says it looks like someone took a german shepherd and shoved it into a basset body. There is really no story to her ending up at the shelter - she was a stray.

I also have Emma, a lab/rottie mix, who I adopted from Safeharbor which is the prison dog program here. She's about 3 and I've had her for 2 years now. Emma does have some issues but I sure don't blame her. She was tied to a tree stump in someone's back yard by about 4 feet of heavy chain. She would get fed "once in a while" whenever the owners decided to throw a bag of food out there. Sometimes it was a long time between "bags". She was "raped" while tied to that stump and had a litter of pups before she was a year old. Poor baby. She still has some food guarding issues but who wouldn't??? She loves Bella and it is so funny to watch them play together. Emma is actually teaching Bella some manners and Bella is teaching Emma how to be a pup!

Rescue dogs rock!

[alphadoginthehouse]

Current animals:

Mortimer (4 yo) - DLH cat - from our local shelter (through PetsMart)...he was the quiet one (he had been neutered the day before!)

Butch Cassidy (5 yo) - JRT/Chi mix - at vet's getting Mortimer (long story), vet tech's aunt found him wondering in the country, couldn't keep him and the 1st day he was out for adoption, I fell in love with him.

Roxxy (3 yo) - from Petco (rescue org that was there) - she's a Katrina/Rita baby and terrified of storms

Daja - JRT/Terrier mix (15 mnths old) - getting Butch his annual shots, had a cute dog out for adoption (1st day!), big sob story from a (different) vet tech, brought her home.

The last time I got a dog from somewhere other than a rescue was through a member at church whose Golden had had puppies. Went to look at them, found a brindle male, named him Rover on the spot and said "he's mine"). That was 20 yrs ago! My last 2 rescues lived to be 15 & 16, so now I've started again.

I'm a sucker for a sad story.

[off_the_leash]

Maxwell Smart is his name...and yes he is named after the TV character

I was looking to get a dog, a smaller one perhaps, for about two years. I wasn't sure I ready for the level commitment it takes to keep a pooch so I waited.

Last month, May, I was looking around on the humane society's website and there was the cutest little face I had ever seen. He looked like he was smiling, despite where he was. He had been dropped off by his previous owner due to 'allergies' (ok so I don't believe that...me I think she just got tired of having such a hyper dog)

Needless to say I went down that very day to see him and fell head over heels in love. I never knew what great dogs Poms where until he came into my life. He is perfect as far as I am concerned. I wouldn't trade him for the world.

Well that is our story

Dani

[alphadoginthehouse]

Max is quite the looker! You done good. Poms ARE very hyper and I don't know that I could handle one. A friend at the dog park has 2 and they are very sweet dogs. Good luck with your new baby.

Rescues are the best dogs! It never ceases to amaze me that dispite all the ill treatment they receive, most of them are the most charming, sweet, loveable dogs and cats in the world.

[Toby4Life]

I rescued Toby just over a year ago. He turned out to be a beautiful Border Collie mix, but when we first rescued him he was just a ball of black fluff. His mom was actually a stray that was brought to the humane society where they realized she was pregnent. A rescue shelter took the puppies to look for homes for them, and we took home the only male in the bunch. I couldn't ask for a better dog and although I always think (dream) about getting pure bread dogs, I'm not sure I ever will. Dog lovers love all dogs, but most have some breed favorites (as I do). But Toby is my best friend and the fact that he's a mutt ensures no one loves him as much as I do.

[Dylan_Casber]

I think overall mixed dogs are better dogs, they just have all the benefits and characteristics of more than one breed. Pure breeds are nice to. But there is nothing like a sweet rescued dog.

her names Asia, and she is a pure weim. Sweetest dog ever, shares my love for volleyball, its awesome

[HuskyLuv]

Our husky, Dakota, we rescued from a kill shelter, no history...all we know is he was found wandering the streets and underweight.

Now deceased, Ginger was a stray golden retriever found wandering the neighborhood. Of course the family took her in (no one ever claimed her) and soon found out she was pregnant. She had a beautiful litter of 5 purebred golden retriever puppies, four of which were found loving homes. The puppy that no one wanted was kept by the family and loved immensely until the day he died...his name was Pluto.

Not exactly dogs, but two of the cats in the family are from kill shelters as well, names: Sassy (tourtoise shell) and Si (Siamese). As for the other two, Charlotte a female grey/white short hair was a kitten found cowering in a hotel bathroom by the cleaning staff after being in the room for several days with no food or water (aside from what was in the toilet). Hotel staff found her and left her outside to fend for herself. The family couldn't leave her out there on her own, so the family adopted her and brought her home with us to Florida. The kitten was found in a hotel in Charlotte, thus her name. Lastly Phinneas, a male black/white short hair cat, was a stray found on a college campus. Brought him home and he's been living a posh life ever since.

[Josh]

Our first rescue is a black lab named Belle. Her story almost ended before it started. We got her from a lady that picked her and her sister up on a logging road. She was taking in the scenery and saw a black lab puppy to close to the road, so close in fact that she was nearly hit by a logging truck. Knowing what would happen if she left her the lady got out and followed the dog when it went back in the woods. She came to a hole that the two had dug and were using as a home. Belle came right out and wanted to be held and comforted the other had to be dragged out. We were going into the pet store and saw the lady sitting with a rescue group in town. After seeing the labs I was pretty sure we would be getting a dog that day, my wife loves labs and wanted one very badly. After hearing the story I knew we had a dog, we couldn't leave without bringing her home with us. That's been about a year ago. She was fairly easy to housetrain, is very friendly, laidback, the only thing is if it's raining I have to walk her. Because of her close encounters with logging trucks, she is VERY VERY scared of diesel trucks and there are a few that live nearby and if one comes by while she is in the front yard she wants to run away. At sixty plus pounds of muscle if she wants to go somewhere my wife can't stop her, so I take her out in the rain in the back yard. Only other thing about her is, if she is left at home to long without us she finds something that smells very strongly of me, pillow, sock, whatever and chews it. Other than those few things she is a great dog

Our second rescue is named Nelly, she's a pound puppy. We went to the pound looking for a sister for Belle, we were looking for another lab, until we saw Nelly. She is a Basset Hound Beagle mix. She was the smallest puppy in a crowded cage. Every time we walked past she got trampled by the others in the cage. We felt so bad for her that we had to hold her. When she looked up at me with those puppy eyes and fell asleep in my arms that sealed the deal. We took her home with us and that day my wife to her to the vet for a new puppy appointment. She had a little cough that the vet thought was nothing. Less than a week later I was being woke up on a nightly basis by her coughing and wheezing. It seemed to get better if she slept on my belly where she stayed warm. We took her back to the vet and he said Kennel Cough. Tried giving cough medicine and resting her, but it only got worse. Took her back to the vet and it had progressed to a full blown upper respiratory infection. After another two weeks of coughing and wheezing and little, to no sleep for me she was healthy again. We have had her since September of '07 and even though she had a rough start I am so glad we brought her home that day, because I don't think she would have lived much longer as small as she was and as much trouble as she had breathing. Today she has lingering effects of the respiratory infection but she is a rowdy, funny, adventurous little dog. She is so adventurous she has even started to swim when we take our lab Belle to the river, and from what I've been told a swimming Basset is not very common. Little goofball hates to be left out. She is very strong willed and certainly a daddy's girl, she even still likes to sleep on my stomach, though it's harder for me now that she is 30 pounds. Two of the greatest dogs I have ever had I couldn't imagine my life without Belle and Nelly.

[megsthemoogle]

I now have two little guys! Both of them are mini fox terriers cross. Jack is crossed with a Kelpie :O and Vlad - well the vet said maybe a Chihuahua? No one is quite sure.

Hubby and I found Jack early Feb this year wandering on the entrace to a busy highway. He was in really good health (a part from having the poop scared out of him by all those cars!!!) and probably can't really be considered a rescue. He occasionally shows some signs of being treated badly, but he is so good with people and loves kids. We couldn't believe that no one wanted him! We spent weeks searching and by the end of that time we were so attached to him that we prolly wouldn't have given him up without a fight!

The second lil man is a little on the sad side. Friends of our rang me at work to tell me that Jack has escaped, but it was okay, because they had him. I very quickly rang hubby only to have him confirm that Jack was with him - as it turned out my friends had a different, yet equally stray, equally coloured lil man. Vladdy is much more of a sad case - after running around the local neighbourhood for at least 2-3 weeks (according to locals) in the cold snap that we are currently experiencing, he now has conjunctivitsis, but that is mostly due to his two tumors on his right eyelid. The poor lil man wheezes all night due to his heart murmur and is just generally malnourished and needs some extra TLC at the moment.

He has only been with us for two days now, but is slowly starting to come around. He has finally agreed to let Jack be the alpha male (but only after a spat where Jack grabbed him by the balls and refused to let go - even in a controlled environment!!! :O) and they are both settling into life together. Now we just need a bigger house.

[donnajn]

It's wonderful to see all these adoption stories!

I have two rescues. One is a 4 year old Border Collie mix (well, that's what the shelter came up with, but it's hard to tell!). He was a little over a year old when I adopted him. He was originally in a shelter in Oklahoma, but after 4 months he remained homeless. So he was transferred to the animal shelter in Boulder, Colorado, where I saw him and fell in love! He was very shy and easily frightened but he has overcome most of that and is one happy dog now!

My other dog is a Rough Collie mix and she is 7. She too came from out of state. She was at the shelter in Gallup, New Mexico. She wasn't getting adopted either, so was brought here by a rescue organization. She also had emotional issues but overcame them and is an absolute sweetie. Her fur was so badly matted she had to be mostly shaved, but it grew back and she is beautiful!. I'll post pictures later.

[duck_girl]

I got 3 dogs alltgether, Robin Hood I got from an individual, But Marlyn & Brando (there's a joke in there somewhere) we got from the pound. Marlyn was the greatest dog in the world, but now she's very, very old, and she hides under the shed in her dim, deaf and tastless world. Brando is the oppisite. We found out after moving that he's retarted, that he will never shut his big mouth, and that he always stinks, no matter what. *ugh!*

Who else has gotten a retarted dog from the pound?

[kaazebrabeads]

Our Rescue is Sam.

My Partner and I have two cats (Also rescues from local shelters here in Germany) and the only dogs she ever knew was my families two poodles, Rusty and Rose who are my parents dogs in the US....

We live right in the city center of Baden-Baden (In the middle of everything) and we were not really looking for a dog.... at the moment..... WE were thinking maybe after we moved to our own "forever" home that a dog would be great....

Then we went on line and saw our local shelters home page. And on the home page was Mambo (Who is our Sam now!) who was grinning from under a mop of red apricot fuzz.....

He looks exactly like Rusty, who is my parents Mini poodle (Rose is a Toy), and Petra asked if we wanted to go look, since I had always said finding poodles in shelters is almost an impossibility..... I said no... WE didn't have the space nor the time (I am a chef and work nights, shes a teacher and works days) and also a bit on a tight budget....

So we did not go... The shelter is a no kill, there are dogs there that have been there for 10years, the one man lives there as a caretaker and the owner of the shelter (Which became a part of the city so its not just privately funded any more) will not euthanise a dog unless its absolutely necessary (This I was told by our vet who goes there with other local vets to help with shots and everything)...

Two weeks later, we were internet surfing again.... And Mambo was still there..... I was a bit dismayed, poodles that I know of are usually adopted right away unless there are major problems.... But I still said no.... But I didn't forget him.... And we went nordic walking the next day on a route that went close to the shelter....

And we went in... And He was such a sweetie! The shelter here makes you walk the dog several times before you have a trial day (No over night, you MUST return the dog by closing time) or days before you adopt....

I walked him twice... And brought him home to try.... He never went back.... Well he did, for his paperwork! But came right back home with Petra and I.....

He was at the shelter for several reasons... Surrendered by his then owner who was 90 years old and mentally ill... Her friends and the shelter people convinced her that he needed a better home (She had a dog before that was run over because she forgot she had him)...

But he came to the old lady because of a divorce.... Sam is only 3 1/2 years old and was with a family since a puppy and when the divorce came the guy sold him to the old lady, since they didn't want him any more..... And when the old lady surrendered him, he came to the shelter to get him back! They refused because they did not want him to be resold again, to whatever fate that could be....

He has broken canines (Vet says from playing with rocks) They are flat from chewing on rocks.... Hes still a bit thin but we have him on premium good dog food (Did our research), a scar on the back leg (No known reason but it feels like a possible break site), and can be stiff when first moving (Vet also thinks that might be from an injury as a puppy or a car or something) But he walks out of that.....

He is a tennis ball addict! And I mean addict, forget the world when he has his ball....

He loves people, hiking, kids (Which is good because toddlers adore him!), likes the cats, his food and US!

We just have to get his car anxiety under control.... So he is more comfy....

He knows sit, platz (down), Bleib (Stay) But not great and is so wanting to do things right that he worries a bit....

But we wouldn't trade him for anything!

The shelter says his problem was not that he was a poodle, but that he was mid sized.... He's 20 pounds (About 9-10 kilos) and hes too big to be a "Handbag dog" like the ones Paris Hilton and the other stars have.... He is also too small for people who have to have a big dog......

People would walk him at the shelter and play with him, but for over a month he was just not adorable enough to adopt..... Until us...

He's got us as his forever home now.... and He completes our small critter family just right!