Adopt a Less Adoptable Pet Week!

by | Wednesday | September 21, 2011 | 24 comments

I love Adopt a Less Adoptable Pet Week, because it gives me a chance to reminisce about how flipping cool all my ‘less adoptable’ pets have been.

Apollo and Kekoa, stuck at the bottom of the barrel because of their coloring;

Nuke, left to fend for himself in a kennel because he was 10 and a little neurotic;

Mulan, given to me to be euthanized because of her flea allergies.

I know it’s anthropomorphizing to say these pets came into my home with a deep and abiding sense of gratefulness, but I can’t shake the feeling. So sue me. Kekoa lacks Brody’s sense of entitlement, I’ll tell you that. :) The give-and-take of bringing a pet in need into your home is something that is difficult to describe unless you’ve done it, that wonderful bond that forms as you work to erase the scars of their past and forge new connections. It is very special. And I love it.

The other reason I love Adopt a Less Adoptable Week is the comments on the post where you all tell me about your amazing Less Adoptable pets (who we have redubbed “TOTALLY adoptable and majorly desirable because they are awesome” pets). That’s your cue. Lay em on me, these stories make me happy. :)

Filed: Be The Change, Blog Tagged:
  • Brooke

    We recently took in a fourth kitty who is 12 years old and three-legged. She is so cuddly and chill. All she wants is a window seat to sleep in, which we are happy to provide.

  • http://community.instyledog.com Jess @InStyleDog

    I love seeing all the people with “Less Adoptable” *ahem* TOTALLY adoptable and majorly desirable because they’re awesome pets, too!!

    I just wrote my own post about the two pups in my life who fall into that category: http://community.instyledog.com/?p=1949

  • Leigh

    Oh, gosh. I think I have some kind of Bat-signal that tells every “less adoptable” animal to come right to me.

    My labrador- got him from the shelter. The shelter will give you a dog if you have a 6 foot high fence, and the $$. They don’t do any pre-adoption screening. THEY tried to talk me out of him because he was neurotic. At 5 months! Couldn’t hug him for over 2 years because he was afraid. Really could barely pet him. He would break through the fence and run away every time we used the vaccuum. He was afraid of kids, spray bottles, brooms, other dogs. He was leash aggressive. Now, he is the COOLEST 9 year old. Funniest, smartest, best dog in the universe. (And yes we can hug him- he even lets me completely smother him once in awhile.) And his cognitive skills are through the roof- those Nina Ottoson toys have NOTHING on him.

    I have a (newer adoption) dachshund mix who is very food aggressive (which the rescue made light of at adoption.) Still working a lot with her, but she is a laugh a minute.

    Once you work through those hurdles (which are NOT EASY and sometimes a little terrible) you have the best dogs in the universe. Even if it is anthropomorphizing a bit, I think whether they really know it or not, they are filled with such joy because they DO remember bits of being neglected, or hit, or yelled at. And now that those things don’t happen any more, they are free to be their silly, nutty selves!

  • Lucy

    I’ve adopted the less then perfect before and have no regrets at all, and they all lived well into their late teens.

    I got my 6 year old Pom who was “good with kids” – NOT, “housebroken” – Not and in good health – Not, for $300 and right away had to spend $900 on dental to have 12 teeth removed.

    Looking around last year, I was so disheartened to learn that the oldies are just as expensive as the 2-3 year olds and from my previous experience, best to be prepared to go to the vet right away for a once over.

  • LB

    I didn’t have to go through a real adoption process to get my wonderful black kitty, but he was a special case. A lady had brought her car into a dealership because it was making a strange noise that sounded like meowing. Turns out there was a scared 1 year old black kitty that was stuck in the engine compartment. He had singed hair and scared as could be. As soon as the mechanic opened the hood of the car he ran and hid in the shop. A friend of mine that worked there called me to see if I could possibly add just one more fuzzy to my life. If not animal control was going to take him away and put him to sleep in 3 days because of over population and the lack of actual adoption places in this crappy US state he came from. I picked him up in a heartbeat and I only had to sign a one paper. Turns out only some fur was singed and no other problems. Couldn’t believe the first reaction of people was to put him down. I tell him every day I love him and every night see you in the morning.

  • http://twitter.com/Sedna_51 area

    I cat-sitted (cat-sat?) for my friends a few weekends ago. They decided to adopt a cat and found an eleven year old black cat at the shelter. Had to change her diet a few times to get something that wouldn’t make her tummy upset, but through it all she’s remained the sweetest, friendliest, cuddliest cat ever. I spent most of my time sitting with her on the couch rubbing her tummy!

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Karen-Hume/527095446 Karen Hume

    I don’t know if mine counts as less adoptable, but everyone was very worried about how high energy she is because she’s a blue healer and it was the reason listed for why she was given up a few times. A few people were even trying to talk me out of it because they can get destructive if not exercised enough…blah blah blah. But i loved her to moment i saw her pic on pet finder and was already showing it to people saying “this is the dog we’re going to adopt!” Once we got her home we found out she has a bladder issue as well, and was wetting the bed at night sometimes and even the couch if she fell asleep for a while. I kind of wonder if that’s actually the reason she was given up and the people just didn’t want to spend the time or money to get it fixed? but it turns out she just has bladder incontinence and we just have to give her a pill every day and have had no issues since!

    But like you were saying, she just seems so grateful to be in our home and be part of our family! She’s always right next to me and if i start petting her and then stop she looks back at me and wags her tail like “please keep going, i love that!” she’s really just the sweetest girl in the world!! :D

  • http://www.facebook.com/jackiomy Jacki Wilson

    I went to the shelter to meet a young male chihuahua after my 13 yr old dog passed away. My other dog, a shih tzu, went from room to room crying and moping looking for him every day. I thought that we would all be happy with another dog to keep her company and play with. Unfortunately the chihuahua was not a fit and as I was leaving the shelter a volunteer came up to me saying that she had another dog for me to look at but it was older. I sat back down and she came back with a tiny, 6 year old (estimated age) white poodle! Oh no! Not a poodle! But the second her eyes met mine and she came up and laid her tiny head on my knee, I knew we were meant to be. I cried the whole time I was filling out the papers not wanting to leave her there but I knew I could come get her the next day after she was spayed. I brought her home and by the next day it was as if she had always been there. There was no adjustment period, she was absolutely perfect. House broken, non food aggressive, polite, playful, loves to ride in the car, likes the cats, is good at the groomers, is a joy to be with and is BFF with my shih tzu. She had been picked up as a stray and never claimed. I wish I knew more of her history because sometimes it seems that she expects more from me than I know how to give her. But the happiness and joy that she carries in her little body lights up our lives.

  • Jeffnhevz

    I have had the joy and privilege of bringing many cats off the streets into my home. Our first was from a Home Depot Christmas tree lot,walking around purring and rubbing on anyone he set eyes on, and today he’s 12 yrs old,happy and healthy. We also rescued a month old kitten from an intersection, and 3 yrs later he’s 20 pds and a sweetheart. A home down the street from ours stopped feeding their pregnant cat, and she showed up on our driveway. She sat and stared at the house for awhile until I went out and started to feed her. She had her litter, and now we’re bursting at the seams with cats! But, the alternative is not acceptable to me, and even though my husband was laid off twice in the last 2 yrs, we didn’t lose one of our pets, kept feeding them premium food, and we stuck it out, without throwing any pets on the streets or giving them to a shelter. They bring such happiness and joy to my family, and I can’t imagine life without 1 of them:)

  • Kangaroooo

    I brought Emma into my life a couple months after I lost my first GSD, Puddles. My second GSD, Dexter, was very depressed without his “sister,” and although I wasn’t ready for another dog and no one will EVER replace my baby Puddles, I knew I had to do something for Dexter. I found Emma on Petfinder– a black, year old GSD that had been stuck in a puppy mill type situation for her whole life and then dumped at a high kill shelter. 100% unsocialized, emaciated, and about to be PTS because nobody could do anything with her. I called the shelter she was at, and a lady warned me about her, but thought maybe I could help her since I was a vet student and had a better idea about socializing a terrified dog more than the average person. I took her home and its been a looooong road, but she is getting better with people, dogs, and cats (she was TERRIFIED of kitties!). I’ve had her since early Jan. 2011 and she is just now starting to bark and growl when she plays with me or Dexter, and let people pet her. She is a totally different dog adn will always have her neuroses, but she’s a million times better than when I got her :)

  • Anonymous

    I’m a magnet for what my family calls “defective pets.” My first cat was partially blind, which we discovered long after we adopted her. The second cat, an adopted stray, had gums that rejected his teeth as foreign objects; most had to be pulled. The third cat, another adopted stray, had incontinence problems that could not be fixed via surgery or medicine, so he tended to…leak.

    They were all thoroughly devoted, sweet, cuddly, and playful. They would follow me around the house like a little train of kitty ducklings.

    The cats have since passed, and I now have a neurotic 3 year-old dog – also a former stray. He had been adopted and returned to the shelter for “reasons unknown.” They weren’t hard to figure out!

    He has dietary issues, and threw up daily until we were able to find the right food. And he is afraid. Ooooo, so afraid. Severe separation anxiety (hello, fear pee), imperfect house-training (hello, peeing or pooing inside because he’s afraid to step on wet grass or wet pavement), and constant barking (hello, oh-my-gosh-i-think-i-hear-a-dog-outside-we’re-gonna-die-BARF).

    Now it’s been nearly a year, and he is so much better. He really is a sweetheart: devoted, playful, loves hiking and driving – he even went across country with me this summer. He’s still neurotic, but he’s lightyears ahead of where he was.

    Many times this year, my husband joked about returning him – the shelter stressed their 30 day return policy – but we knew this dog was “unadoptable.” We kept working with him, we’ll keep working with him, and he does seem so very grateful to finally have a home that he works just as hard in his training as we do.

    Well, except when he’s being stubborn. But I’m the keeper of the peanut butter.

    • Leigh

      LOL. Only because I can relate. (See my post farther down…) my labrador was terrified of everything! Now that he’s nine is is doggie perfection.

      The dachshund we recently adopted… the entire family talked about taking her back to the shelter numerous times. But due to her severe food aggression and tendency to jump up and snap (so houses with kids- definite NO) would make her nearly unadoptable. Same here with the “we kept working with her, adn we’ll keep working with her.” Although… she’s a tough nut to crack. She KNOWS how to sit. Does it all the time. But when she doesn’t FEEL like sitting… forget it. No treat will do the trick. She acts SO PUT OUT by the very IDEA of sitting. But we love her (most of the time.)

  • Lee Ann L.

    We adopted our cat, Gracie, a tripod, back in 2009 and she’s been a joy and a miracle to us ever since. Having a tripod is no different from a 4 legged pet. They have their own set of challenges; but, it’s amazing how they overcome them. :-)

  • http://www.briarcliffanimal.com/blog/ Mary

    I have 4 cats, and 2 are special needs! They’re all great and have their own personalities, but we’d be worse off without them. My 3-leg doesn’t know he’s missing a leg, and our 20-lb. black cat is the Alpha around here (we also have his sister, a tuxie).
    Here’s my blog on ours, and other, totally adoptable pets:
    http://www.briarcliffanimal.com/blog/2011/09/20/less-adoptable-pets/

  • Sue W.

    We already had a Chocolate lab with a “sense of entitlement” (she’s never known a day without a warm bed and food) and then, more recently, we picked up a stray. Correction, he picked us. Literally, he chased my husband’s car down in 0 degree weather and jumped in. After an effort to find the owner, we had to turn away the foster dog we were going to adopt (the stray was very dominant with other males, tho the female lab seems to handle him fine) and kept Joe (the stray). It wasn’t like we had a choice! He’s silly, has boundless energy, and is devoted to my husband. He eats like he might never have another meal. The lab eats like she’s doing us a favor. We think he might be a GSD and Afghan mix.
    I don’t think he qualifies as “Less Adoptable” but *we* might qualify as dognap victims.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1363015727 Michelle Cotton

    I have a special place in my heart for black cats and dogs because they are always the last to be adopted. That just makes me sad. All of my cats have been black. Currently I have a tuxedo cat named Maestro who doesn’t like other cats but is a really awesome guy. I have a black lab/mastiff mix who is over 100lb at 1 year old. When people see him they almost always back away first, even though he is the goofiest lover boy ever. Just because he’s big and black. I’m glad I walked into PetSmart the day he was up for adoption. He currently has horrible allergies and we’ve started allergy shot therapy on him, which is something I never imagined doing. I wouldn’t trade either of them for the world!

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1021929583 Lisa Cronin

    ah, my older dog was the runt of the litter at the Humane Society – he was an unrecognizable mish-mash of breeds. When I got him home and cleaned up him, and realized he was emaciated so that’s why he didn’t look as big as he should at 8 weeks, I found him to be a Shep/Dobie/Collie mix. BIG BOY. He was the sweetest, most gentle, best dog ever. My younger dog was a ride-along rescue from Animal Control where due to some eye goop they thought she had distemper and were gonna put her down – her little card had actually been turned over she was so close to being euthanized. A pure-breed rescue group took her out because she was so smoochy and sweet even though she was part Pit and part Lab, rather than pure Lab. I was arm-wrestled into taking her even though I’d been looking for an adult dog as companion for my older dog and I’m not sorry I did. She is a good friend and I tell her I saved her from death so she should be grateful, but she mostly just licks me in the face and goes to do whatever she wants in response to that. :)

  • lin

    At the shelter where I volunteer there was a handsome, friendly,playful orange kitty who kept getting passed over. Then he developed a sore on his lip, so he was REALLY passed over. I had been looking for a cat for awhile, so I brought in my husband who brought in the dog, and the kitty passed muster. I was half-afraid the sore would turn out to be some sort of tumor, but the vet gave him a shot of steroids, and it cleared right up (it was a stress reaction). Mr. Kitty was able to handle the neurotic dog, charm the neighbors, and convert my husband from a vague dislike of cats to BFF.

  • Jeanie

    Sadie is our black lab/shepherd and when we adopted her we didn’t know about the black dog thing, we just loved her. She is a little neurotic, but then I think I’m crazy too so I just love her more:) Bama is our shepherd/pryrenees we fostered and then adopted from the pound. When we first got him he would not leave his bed so we had to bring him his food, take him outside and work on getting him to trust us. Now he is the most amazing dog and a real teddy bear. We are fostering two kids and he lets our 18 month old climb on him without a peep:) I like to think that in some way we provided healing for him and now he is doing the same thing in his own way for our foster kids.

  • Anonymous

    Late to post on this one because of technical difficulties, but I think I told the story of my “absolutely adoptable” black pets last year. Clyde, the black lab, was stressed from being in the shelter for 3 months after being surrendered for adoption. He supposedly got along with everyone and other dogs…until I brought him home and found out that he is afraid of children and will only tolerate other dogs if they ignore him and don’t enter his bubble. On the other hand, he came to us very well trained, he’s the smartest dog I’ve ever had, and you could leave him home all day (uncrated) from day one and not worry about him touching a thing in the house. It’s taken some time, but I think he finally realizes he’s in his forever home, and he’s gone from a dog who doesn’t care if he’s in the same room with you to one who wants to sit on your lap!

    I agree with Leigh about working through the hurdles – they are NOT easy. The issue with children is always scary. And if he’d been adopted by a family with children, he could have very well been returned and put down. :( We’ve been going to classes pretty consistently to show him that he can have fun with other dogs around. Through training for me and training for him, we’re at a point where we can at least deal with his issues, even if we can’t “cure” them.

    We adopted Alley, our black cat, after she was surrendered to a shelter at age 5. I have no clue why anyone would have given her up! She is the sweetest, most affectionate cat ever! All she wants to do is sleep in your lap or just be touching you. She’s 11 years old now, and I hope she lives into her 20s because I want to keep her around forever!

    Black dogs and cats can be the best pets! I wish more people would give them a chance.

  • http://www.facebook.com/dazzledogdelight Joy Randel

    I have a special place in my heart for black dogs. All my dogs have been black. Most people do not want to adopt black dogs.

    http://www.DazzleDogDelight.com

    http://www.facebook.com/dazzledogdelightfanpage.com

  • RoseOfSkye

    I hadn’t had a cat since I was little and when my husband and I agreed to get our first cat, we decided we’d ask the Dublin SPCA for a recommendation based on temperament. I mean, we live in an apartment, the furniture belongs to the landlord, etc. We decided to look for a laid back cat rather than a cute kitten. I also didn’t know if I was ready to train a kitten as my very first pet for which I was wholly responsible on my own. So off we went and after gawking at the cute and adorable 6 month old kittens, the adoption lady pointed us in the direction of this giant lazy-looking tuxedo cat. I think he’s very handsome, but he was about 2 years and long past the “cute cuddly kitten” phase. Most people in there looking for cats to adopt had children who were all drawn to the adorable kittens with huge eyes and ears. I was never a fan of tuxedo cats and I would have loved to bring home a calico (there were a few young ones there) but we stuck with our original decision to place temperament above colour. The shelter told us that this cat was very relaxed and laid back and he’d been there for three months already (thankfully, it’s a no-kill shelter!).
    I’ve now had Mr. Darcy for nearly 9 months and I love him to bits. Someday I will get a calico kitten now that I know I can look after a cat properly. But if I could go back in time and pick another cat, I wouldn’t change my mind – Mr. Darcy has been the easiest, fuss-free cat to look after. So laid back he’s virtually horizontal! And I no longer feel guilty about making him an indoor cat because he really doesn’t seem to have any interest and is afraid of everything! Sure there have been health issues due to his large bulk and we’re working on his diet and trying to figure out what toy will induce him to exercise, but he’s been a furry bundle of joy.

  • Katie K

    When my husband and I came home one night two years ago to find a cat meowing in pain next to our house, we had no idea what might be wrong with her, but we knew we had to do something. She let us give her some food, and amazingly she let my husband pick her up, all the while looking at him with these big eyes placed in her squishy little Scottish-fold-esque face. We put her in an old over-sized dog crate until we could get her to the vet the next day. At the vet’s office, we find out that she not only has a deep gash in her back leg, but she also had a broken pelvis! The vet looked at us, and asked us what we wanted to do because she knew this was a stray we had found. My husband and I just looked at each other, already knowing the answer: “She’s our cat now.” I feel absolutely blessed that Bentley chose our house as her safe haven. She is the most loving, affectionate cat I have ever known. I know that if we had not claimed her, she probably would have been put down, which makes me deeply sad- as she is such a gem. What a waste it would have been to put down such a wonderful creature.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000441874114 Laura PetSafe

    I’m late to the game, but I got my pup Lincoln from a local rescue. He’d been staying their kennel for 7 months waiting for his new home. He’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. My sweet Ellie monster was rescued from the side of the road WAYYY out in rural Tennessee. She had been abandoned in the snow with all her belongings. Love those two crazy dogs.