What happens when you ask 13 devoted dog owners what they love about their dogs? Prepare yourselves for gushing like you've never read before!
"After retirement and not having a hobby, I thought what do I love the most? Of course it was animals, dogs being my favorite. I decided that fostering a poor, helpless dog that needed to be rescued would be just the best thing. Not only for the dog, but for me because I knew I had so much love and patience to give them.
My first little puppy mill foster arrived and although I had read up on puppy mill dogs before I had never actually had one in my arms. I was so taken aback at the dirt, the smell, and the horrifying stare in her eyes. She just had no spark for life.
I nurtured her, loved her, and tried my hardest to get her to accept a new life but she just couldn't. She was so distraught and fearful of everything, just stepping out the door into the world was more than she could do.
As time went on, I fell so deeply in love with her. She would lay so close to me in bed at night that I could feel her breath and heartbeat. She never did get an application for adoption in the end, because I knew if I let her go I would experience a heart break like no other in my life."
"When Bootsie came into my life as a 15 year old foster; she was underweight, boney, and had pneumonia and kennel cough! It took me four days before I could get her to eat, feeding her medicine from an eyedropper.
With each dropper, I would hold her, talk gently to her, telling her she would pull through, and that I loved her. It was then I realized that she was about to be my foster failure. We endured this sickness together; therefore we would spend the rest of our lives together.
Every time she looks at me with love in her eyes, she steals my heart - I love her to the moon and back!"
"When I think about what steals my heart about my dogs, it is something I'm sure many fur parents of rescued dogs know well. It is how grateful they are and how eager they are to show you they are thankful.
Thankful to be sleeping on your couch or comfy bed just for them, endless toys to play with, good food, and of course just to be loved and treated like they should be.
Our dogs didn't have the best start in life but they don't hold grudges and every time they show they are grateful for a loving home by giving us kisses or just wanting to snuggle in close, it melts my heart."
"What I love most about Izzy is her constant attitude. She is like a 16 year old, moody teenager trapped in a dog's body. If you don’t give her what she wants, she literally throws a temper tantrum. She stomps her feet and throws her body on the ground dramatically, it's hilarious.
She can throw more attitude with a single glance, than any dog I have ever met. It’s a constant source of entrainment for us and we like to remind her daily just how good she has things, so maybe the drama isn’t warranted. (Although it's quite hysterical.)
I adore her and although she has more personality than any dog should have, it only adds to her charm."
"Bronté, a former puppy mill dog, steals my heart simply when he wags his tail at me. He used to be scared of all people (including me) before!"
"When I wake up during the night, and Sophia's sleeping beside me on her back like a starfish, I know she feels secure and loved, and my heart wants to burst.
There are other times when I wake up and she's sitting there, waiting for me to acknowledge her. Her little tail wags so fast. No one has ever been as happy to see me, as she is. I could go on for days about how she fills my heart. I love that girl!"
"Peluché steals my heart constantly. Multiple times a day I look at her and think 'how did we ever get so lucky?' Peluché is a very quiet, low key dog for the most part, and what steals my heart most is when she has bursts of puppy-like energy and playfulness.
She came into our lives when she was about five years old (and quite sick at the time), so we never got to experience the "puppy phase" with her. But lately, her goofy side is really shining through; whether it's rolling around in bed to wake us up in the morning, howling at the top of her lungs demanding her breakfast, or a serious case of the zoomies after coming in from a walk, she never fails to make me smile."
"Tyson has been in our lives over four years now. There are endless ways he steals our hearts everyday. The way he only gives kisses when he is really excited, to how he likes to take pants from the bedroom only to drag them into the living room - he trots proudly each time!
He makes me proud how he is such a vital part in each of our foster dogs' journeys. He seems to know what they need, whether it is giving a timid dog their space, rough housing to build strength for an underweight dog, or simply letting them curl up next to them."
"Her eyes. I adopted Suki seven years ago. She had spent her first four years in a puppy mill, so in the beginning I only got to see those eyes from a distance as she was too nervous to be in the same room with me. She generally just stuck to peeking around corners.
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© 2021 World of Angus
Bianca Roy
Author