Why I adopted a dog from a rescue.

I was looking for a companion dog for my little fellow. He had separation anxiety and I was going to work for a company that I no longer could take him with me. So I decided to get another dog, I wanted a dog that would be able to play and enjoy life with. I didn’t have a lot of time but my mom would come ever afternoon to take care of them and let them out for the afternoon. So I spent several months looking for the right kind of dog, not a particular breed but I wanted a dog with a personality. It’s hard to say what kind of personality; I just knew that when I met the right one, I would know. So every week I went and I would ask people that were at the rescues if they knew of any new dogs that came in. My husband’s boss at the time was a volunteer at the CSRA human society and she told me about a medium to large dog that came in and he was very sweet and loveable. So they agree to hold him until the weekend when I could get there and off I went on Saturday. I fell in love with him. They let him out of the pen and in their running area and he would jump in the pool, throw the food dish over his head. He was a riot and he kissed me and loved on me. It was love at first sight. So I adopted him right then and took him home that day. Now came the hard part introducing him to my other dog, it wasn’t as hard I thought. They acted like long lost buddies. They played and loved each other and slept together. We had some issues with feeding and food, but that was quickly brought under control. I don’t want you think that there wasn’t any ups and downs, there were. Mom came every afternoon to let them out for 30min to a 1 hour, but Lakota was not housebroken as they had told me. He marked and peed throughout the house. It took several months to get him to understand that he could not and had to go out. He also likes to eat bread, and would make tiny holes in the plastic about the size of quarter and eat the whole loaf that way. We had to keep everything we didn’t want him to eat in the fridge for quite a while. He also love to shred paper, that one time he took a 24 roll of toilet paper and paper towels and shredded them that it look like it had snowed in my house. I decided to try crate training with him, I went out and bought him a crate and before I had time to put it together he was sitting in it and so we put it together around him. He slept in it even though he didn’t have to, he would go in it when he wanted to be left alone and shut the door. He eventually out grew it and didn’t need it anymore, but it was god sent at the time. If I had to do it again I would and plan on adopting from a shelter or rescue when as a family we decide we want another dog. I know what can come along with adopting but the good out ways the bad. For all Lakota’s health issues, behavioral issues, he loves us and we love him. He protects my children and home. He loves to play with the kids and his favorite activity is to get in the pool with them. So we will keep him until he is ready to cross over. I hope that you will consider adopting from a shelter or rescue. You can find a list of them on our website or by clicking here.