Our Rescue Dogs Really Rescued Us

According to Wikipedia: A Rescue Dog is a dog that is rescued from a possible euthanasia after being found as a stray, a dog that has been saved from an abusive or neglectful home by an animal rescue organization such as the RSPCA in the UK, the ISPCA in Ireland, or the ASPCA in the USA.

I am a proud and blubbering parent when it comes to my dogs. I can't explain in words how much they mean to me. I grew up with dogs as a child, but as I got older, couldn't have dogs due to apartment living. When I moved in with my sister and her two kids, this changed because she owns a home.

We adopted Joey in the summer of 2004. I wasn't at the Human Society when Laura and the kids picked him out. I hadn't had a dog in so long that I was a little apprehensive with Joey at first, but it didn't take long and we were connected at the hip. Till this day, our neighbors comment to Laura about how inseparable Joey and I are. He truly is one of my best friends. He doesn't care what I look like, he's as loyal as they come and always has my back. He's excited to see me even if I've only been gone a minute or two. He senses when I'm down or things aren't right with me and gives me extra loving and care during these times. Getting Joey was one of the best things that has happened to me as an adult. The timing on getting a dog wasn't an accident. Laura knew a dog would be just what the doctor ordered. He was there for me through some really rough times which connected us even more. Joey lifted my spirits while I was going through my cancer journey. He also helped Laura's kids get through their parents tough divorce. Joey is an angel that was sent to us for a reason. This beautiful dog had been adopted two different times before we found him. Can you imagine how hard that must have been for him. We were the third family to adopt him. The way we see it, the third time was a charm. We needed him and he needed us. We know that Joey the dog was meant for us.

One day last year we were watching television as a family. The local news brings on an animal from the Humane Society every Friday. They were introducing their viewers to a very cute beagle. At the end of the segment, the woman from the Humane Society mentioned that there were some puppies that had just come in and were ready for adoption. She said they were three black labs. We all looked at each other (we love black labs) and headed out the door to the animal shelter. Unfortunately, the black lab puppies were so popular that everyone wanted to meet them. We anxiously waited around for over an hour, hoping that they wouldn't all be adopted. In the mean time, we strolled up and down the halls looking at other dogs. We found the beagle they were introducing on t.v. but it just wasn't the right dog for us. She was very sweet but a little old and quite the shedder. I'd only played with her for five minutes and had dog hair all over me. We kept checking in with staff to find out if one of the three puppies was available to meet, but to no avail. We finally decided it was time to go, figuring the wait may go on for a while. On our way out the door, we literally bumped into a young couple that was holding one of the black lab puppies. We quickly asked them if they were planning to adopt the cute little girl- thankfully, they said no. They lived in an apartment and knew it wouldn't be fair to the dog. We were grateful to know they were just looking at dogs for entertainment value only. The woman from the shelter said that other people were next in line to see the puppy, but since we were right there, she decided to let us go next. It was the first sign this dog was meant to be ours. She escorted us into a small room so we could play with her and see if she was a fit for us and vice versa. I will never forget how much fun we had with her in that room. We all took to each other right away but the icing on the cake was when I looked at her little tummy. There it was, another sign. She had a white patch on her belly just like my childhood dog, Spooky. I looked at my family and said, "this is our new dog and her name will be spooky."