The Fun Part of Finding a Forever Pet

Let me start by saying that adopting from your local shelter is awesome! So many places don't offer no-kill shelters, so if those pets don't get adopted by a loving family, they are killed and then they don't get the life they deserve. It's a harsh reality of what happens when people choose to buy a dog or cat or whatever from someone selling it on Facebook Marketplace or in one of the many group chats. Yes, all animals deserve a good home and a loving family to have in their lives; however, people go and spend $500 or more on a dog that was a creation from someone getting dogs to breed and sell. Only for that purpose. But why keep putting money into the pockets of others when you can go down to your local shelter and adopt a pet instead?

I say this because our dog is a rescued pet from a local shelter. She was abused and neglected by her previous owners. The day we adopted her was not supposed to happen at all. It was about two days before Valentine's Day last year and we had talked about taking our boys to the shelter to volunteer with getting the pets adjusted to humans and specifically kids. Our kids can be a handful and I know that other families have the same, so why not allow our kids to be the test dummies before the pets get adopted? They had a small mixed breed puppy in the lobby with them. She was shaking behind the desk, not really getting close to anyone. She was there, terrified and not wanting to get to know anyone at all. I was looking at her and I said, "poor thing! Will she come outside? We would love to see what her behavior is like with all 4 of us."

The shelter employees said, "no, she's shy. We can't get her to go to anyone at all. We've been picking her up and trying to see how she would react with other people when they come in too, but she cries and claws her way back to the floor every time."

I looked over at my husband and I said, "well, she's cute, and maybe we should try to see how she takes to us. You know, just to see how she is with humans she doesn't know." A dog can smell fear. They can point out when the person that is trying to get them will harm them or put them in danger. They looked and said well we can give it shot. They picked her up and put her on the counter. She looked at us and I said, "hi sweetie! You are just too cute." She allowed my husband to pick her up and then he was not allowed to put her down at all. She was attached to him at that moment. We asked about the adoption fees and process for the shelter. We were thinking we would go and get our house and yard ready for a puppy and then come back and get her in a week. Nope! Not the case. We paid $25 dollars and filled out the paperwork. On that day, she was ours. Her name the shelter gave her was Cherrie. We renamed her Shadow. She earned that name because every time you walk she is right by your side. We love our Shadow. She is cute and full of personality. Very protective over my entire family. We wouldn't have it any other way.

This is why I say adopt from your local shelter. Too many animals that could be great household pets get euthanized daily, and it's because we think we've got a great deal by buying a dog online because it has papers. Go to your local shelter and just see if they have the option for you to volunteer to play with the pets. Take them out into an open area to run and get that caged feeling off of them. I know the ones in our town now offers that daily and we take part in it. Mainly because we know that at one point, that was our dog. All she wanted was to get out and be loved. That's what the majority of them want daily.