So for No-D Blog Day, I wanted to talk about something that's really
near and dear to my heart. To be honest, I'm a crappy diabetes
advocate. I've been to one JDRF walk in the almost 5 years I've been
diagnosed. I haven't contacted to my local congressman to talk to him
about funding towards a cure or the artificial pancreas project. For
the most part, the only time my husband and I discuss my diabetes is
when it is extremely evident via a scary low or high.
But there is something that I'm a real advocate for and that's adopting rescue animals. When Trey and I discussed getting a puppy to add to our 2 person, 2 cat family, we tossed around the choices of breeds we wanted. He wanted a boxer, I wanted an English bulldog. However, after researching breeders in the area and realizing the amount of rescue shelters there were in town, we decided to get a rescue.
We were lucky to pick out an 8-week-old, 10 lb. ball of fur at PetsMart, because most rescue dogs are older and have some type of behavior problems. Roscoe's momma came to the shelter pregnant with him and his 7 siblings. And we got to pick him out when they brought them to the store that day. Half Labrador retriever, half Siberian husky, my Roscoe is all love! Loyalty is his middle name, because he's never more than 3 feet from me. I love that big ball of mess.
Missy we adopted as a roughly 1-year-old boxer/lab mix, or a boxador as I call her. She came to us with some neglect issues, because we noticed that she wants nothing more than for someone to pet her and play with her ears. We gave her all the love we could and balanced it with enough discipline to make her a great dog. She has the shortest attention span of any dog I've ever met, especially when she sees a squirrel. She's our little sweetheart.
But there is something that I'm a real advocate for and that's adopting rescue animals. When Trey and I discussed getting a puppy to add to our 2 person, 2 cat family, we tossed around the choices of breeds we wanted. He wanted a boxer, I wanted an English bulldog. However, after researching breeders in the area and realizing the amount of rescue shelters there were in town, we decided to get a rescue.
We were lucky to pick out an 8-week-old, 10 lb. ball of fur at PetsMart, because most rescue dogs are older and have some type of behavior problems. Roscoe's momma came to the shelter pregnant with him and his 7 siblings. And we got to pick him out when they brought them to the store that day. Half Labrador retriever, half Siberian husky, my Roscoe is all love! Loyalty is his middle name, because he's never more than 3 feet from me. I love that big ball of mess.
Missy we adopted as a roughly 1-year-old boxer/lab mix, or a boxador as I call her. She came to us with some neglect issues, because we noticed that she wants nothing more than for someone to pet her and play with her ears. We gave her all the love we could and balanced it with enough discipline to make her a great dog. She has the shortest attention span of any dog I've ever met, especially when she sees a squirrel. She's our little sweetheart.
Our family at the local Dog Fair
So if you're looking to add a furry animal to your mix, I extremely advocate looking at rescue animals. There are millions of dogs and cats in our country that are waiting for someone to give them a chance. And after a few years, the old saying is really true, "Who rescued who?"
I am totally on board on this too. When we wanted a dog we went with a rescue shelter and we could not be happier. Teddy is part of the family!
ReplyDeleteMy Bes and Rose are rescues. I've never had two better cats. I don't actually think they know they are cats though, so don't tell them.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great thing to be an advocate for!
ReplyDeleteOne of my chinchillas is a rescue. She's not be as cuddly or affectionate as our first, mainly because she wasn't properly socialized when she was young. BUT, she's so very grateful! All she wants is someone to talk to her and occasionally scrtich behind her ear. And raisins. Lots and lots of raisins.
ReplyDeleteaw, love the pic, it looks like missy is smiling! :)
ReplyDeleteI love your blog, and am very happy that you chose to talk about this. But this bothered me "because most rescue dogs are older and have some type of behavior problems."
ReplyDeleteI work in rescue. There are very few dogs in rescue with true behavioral problems. Untrained or hyper, yes. things that are not fixable? No. Comments like these will only keep people from rescuing dogs, when there are so many who need homes. I have 4 rescue dogs, 2 of which I acquired as adults. No behavioral issues.
If you don't want to post this, I understand, I just wanted to let you know.
Love these two! They really are great dogs! And you know my two are rescues as well! Minus Lucky's chewing habits, I have great dogs, too! Great post, and great photo (if I do say so myself). ;)
ReplyDelete