When Our Dog Adopted Us...

 

A couple years ago, we were looking for a dog.  Every little boy needs a dog, we thought.  We searched high and low.  Kiddo wanted a Beagle because at the time his favorite movie was Underdog.  Hubby and I thought a Beagle would be great!  They are spunky, active, loyal...   So the search began.  The search ended with us bringing home a beautiful, female Beagle that we named Sasha. 

 

She was spunky.  She was active.  And there the expectations ended.  She was certainly no Underdog.  She was so destructive.  She did not like our Kiddo.  She refused to be trained.  As a result of her personality, Kiddo was afraid of her (she was in the nasty habit of nipping his ankles and humping him in a show of dominance.)  Hubby and I tried everything.  However, when we returned home to find she had chewed her way though all our watering hoses, several bags of soil, and other items in addition to her chew toys, Hubby had the last straw with her destructiveness.  So we found her a new home with a family who lived on several acres of land, had chickens she could chase, and had other dogs and multiple children she could terrorize.  (Her new owner later contacted me to tell me that it appeared the other dogs mellowed her out, and that she had found a great fit within their family!  I was HUGELY relieved.)

After our not so great experience with Sasha, we decided we needed to wait to find another dog.  I still went online to check out petfinder.com.  I drooled over rescue dogs- huskies, shepherds, collies, border collies, rotties, and other dogs.  I wanted my son to have a dog.  Visions of Arliss and Travis playing and loving on Old Yeller continually flashed through my mind.  Every boy needs a dog, I kept thinking.  Still, after several months, we simply did not find one that we thought might fit into our family, especially now that our son was scared of dogs because of the bad experiences with Sasha.

Right around the Holidays, we went to visit my in-laws who live about four and half hours away from us.  While we were there, this strange dog kept showing up.  Not knowing the dog, I made sure my nieces and my Kiddo were cautious around it.  However, the dog kept showing up and kept wanting to play and be loved on.  He was gorgeous!  Long, blonde colored fur. Beautiful, trusting, brown eyes.  An old soul.  We fell in love with him.  Within the short time we were visiting, the dog stole our hearts. 

Knowing he must belong to someone, DH and I took the dog to the local vet.  Sure enough, he was microchipped...both with an AKC chip AND a Humane Society chip.  From what we gathered, he was rescued at some point from a puppy mill, was fixed, and was adopted out.  However, the owners never put their information on either chip.  So...  We had to call the Humane Society with the chip number.   They found the owners- the lady did not want the dog, but her estranged hubby did.  The man insisted he would pick up the dog from my in-laws that week.

My family left for home that day.  The ENTIRE way home, we were angry, we were sad, we were completely torn apart.  We KNEW we were leaving family behind.  Still, even when we felt like we had to turn around to go get him, we knew his true owner was on his way.  So... We thought that was it.

The following Friday night, my MIL called to say the man never showed up.  He had her number, given to him by the Humane Society, but he never called, never showed up, nothing.  My in-laws did not want the dog on their property, and were ready to take the dog to the shelter. 

There was no question in our mind... If the man did not care enough about his dog to at least call to work something out for him, then the dog was fair game.  Early that Saturday morning, we called my MIL back and told her we were on our way for the our dog.  We hopped in Hubby's truck, drove up, loved and hugged on our new dog, and brought him home.

 

 

 

 

Our dog, Biskit, is a Yellow Border Collie.  He is an old soul.  He plays when he wants, but he is much more interested in sitting at our feet, laying his head on our laps, or sneaking doggie treats when he thinks we aren't looking.  He loves our Kiddo, and though it took a while for our Kiddo to realize there was nothing to be afraid of, our Kiddo truly found his Yeller. 

We like to joke about how Biskit claimed us.  The truth is, we adopted each other.  And for me, having been more of a cat person my whole life, I have found that this furry, gentle dog has truly stolen a piece of my heart.

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