In honor of Petfinder’s Adopt the Internet Day, we are featuring Adoption Success Stories here at Pawcurious, starring the wonderful pets sent in by you, the readers. This is Part 3 of 3.
Gilbert: So Happy Together, from Julie
It was so hard to find my favorite picture – he is so photogenic and happy, even when I force him into a hot dog or banana costume! But this one really shows his personality and was taken by a friend at the dog park.
I adopted Gilbert 8 1/2 years ago. I found him on the internet, but not on Petfinder. I was looking to adopt a housebroken dog, since I work full-time and knew I wouldn’t have been able to do that, so I was mainly looking for older dogs. I was checking the shelters and various rescue organizations. I saw the picture of Gilbert, who was 6 months old at the time.
He was one of a litter of 12 puppies born in the shelter and had been adopted and returned for some reason, I think the owner had health issues. I contacted the organization (FOCAS) right away to apply for him. There was a lot of interest in him, but luckily I was chosen to adopt him and we’ve been happy together ever since.
He is such a happy, goofy, slightly neurotic boy. He loves going to the dog park, rolling in smelly stuff, and playing with his orange treat ball (which has given him a callous on his nose from his constant pushing around of it). His favorite snacks are carrots and popcorn and he knows the sounds of me opening the crisper and the popcorn container and runs into the kitchen for treats.
He has had stomach “issues” on and off since I adopted him and has gone through many prescription diets and various other treatments and supplements- finally got a diagnosis of Clostridium perfringens enterotoxicosis and we’ve been managing it with canned pumpkin.
The face of happy.
Keto and Toby: Spokesdogs for Mutts, via Allie and Ryan
These are my rescued boys, Keto and Toby. While some people ask “what are they?” expecting a mixed/guess response, many more seem to think they are some sort of breed. My favorite response is “big, fluffy mutts”, but I’m willing to share my guesses on the primary breeds they display as well: shepherd/chow and malamute/border collie. Often we are asked if they are brothers, but they are a year apart in age. I rescued them as approximately 9 week and 14 week old puppies.
I used to volunteer at the puppy rescue where I got them. When people would express concern about adopting a puppy that might have chow in him, I’d whistle and my chow-ish mutt Keto would come running over so they could meet him and I could explain what sorts of chow traits I thought he had, and what I had learned about “chow-mix” dogs. One day while volunteering, a fellow volunteer tracked me down stating some adopters wanted to take MY dog home. Apparently, Keto looked just like a very special dog they had lost several years prior. They never knew what sort of mix he was, so I spoke with them for a while and showed them a photo of Keto as a pup.
Our dogs get so much attention out in public, that I sometimes refer to them as Spokesdogs for Mutts. When we go to outdoor concerts, festivals, aviation shows (not the noisy kind), etc. we’re always amazed at how many times we observe people taking photos of our dogs. What would someone want that for, we wonder? Other times, a never ending stream of people want photos WITH our dogs. How funny! We think they are super stars, and it’s fun when others tend to feel the same way! We’re sure to tell everyone they are rescued mutts.
As far as our dogs themselves, Keto is incredibly smart and seems to understand every word we say, often doing what we ask even though we ask in English with no commands that he’s been taught. He’s open, friendly, patient, kind. He likes to eat, hike, swim, hunt bunnies, and can be an intimidating car/house alarm.
Toby is shy…actually, a bit beyond shy. He is the world’s sweetest, happiest, most joyful, cuddly and smiley dog. He loves snow, hiking, and playing “cowboy” by barking when the horses next door come out. He’s an incredible mouser. But, he’s afraid of people if they show too much interest, and especially of kids who have high energy and show interest in this teddy-bear looking dog.
He’s afraid of lightning, thunder, the noises wind makes inside the house, and statues. Yes, statues…although we think we’re making progress on that one. Who knows what he experienced in his short life before we got him, but we wouldn’t trade his smiles and hugs for the world.
Spokesdogs? I vote spokesmodels! No wonder everyone wants their picture!
Gypsy and Oscar, making Christy’s life interesting from day 1
Yay for Chow mixes! Gilbert is part Chow also – I was told he was a Chow-Golden Retriever by the rescue group and saw pics of his mom who looked very Golden-ish, but he’s got short hair, so who knows. He does have an almost entirely purple tongue, so I think the Chow part is right. I was a bit hesitant about Chows before, but my roommate at that time had a Chow mix and she was the sweetest dog, and was an amazing big sister to Gilbert for the time we lived together. And Gilbert, well, he is a good ambassador for Chow mixes too. Just don’t tell our renters insurance – Chows are one of the non-covered breeds, so he is just a “retriever mix” to them!
that picture of gilbert made my day. cutest.thing.ever.
One of my dear friends has always had chows and they are the best. dogs. ever. She had them all from puppies and they are awesome with kids, awesome with small dogs (even my hyper crazy shih tzu), and awesome with people. big giant fluffy bundles of awesome.