It was about 4:55, and I just happened to check Facebook before leaving the office one afternoon last May. At the top of my newsfeed, a friend had reposted a picture of the sweetest puppy from the Friends of Memphis Animal Shelter page. And the caption said he was going to be put down the next day.
Seriously, how could you not love this face!?
The puppy looked like our other dogs, and for some reason, I was drawn to him. I immediately called the husband and asked if I could go get the dog (thinking he would be rational and say, "no"), but he told me that if I wanted to, I could.
I called our vet and had them fax over a letter saying that we would take the puppy in for a checkup immediately to see what was wrong with him (the shelter thought maybe distemper at the time, but weren't sure). I figured even if he was extremely sick, we could give him a great home for a while and let him leave this world a happier puppy.
I picked him up and he was all of 4 pounds, covered in poop and really lethargic. I wasn't sure he was going to make it, but I took him home hoping for the best.
The next day he went to our vet, and she didn't think he would live another 24 hours. He had two types of worms, a cold, a hernia, plus he was emaciated (which made me so mad) and anemic. The poor guy was hanging on by a thread.
We watched him closely over the next week, alternating taking him to work with us (luckily both our employers were cool with it), and after a week, the little guy was perfectly fine! We were glad we named him "Lieutenant Dan" or "Loot" because he was definitely a wounded soldier :)
I will say having three dogs, including one puppy, wasn't the easiest thing in the world, but I can't imagine him not in our family.
He has grown to be a pretty good dog. The worst thing is that he goes NUTS when people come over and barks for a good 5-10 minutes. I also think he has some separation anxiety and hates being alone, but he's getting better.
Someone didn't want me to go out of town...
He follows me everywhere around the house.
But he fits in our family pretty well (he's in the middle).
So, anyway, long story short, my little boy turns 1 tomorrow. He proved everyone wrong and is a healthy, happy almost full-grown dog now. Happy birthday, Loot!
23 comments:
Adorable! That was great of you to adopt him! :) We adopted our dog and I will never NOT adopt our dogs in the future based on our experience.
Aww, happy birthday! We rescued all of our cats. I'll never NOT rescue. I have a soft spot in my heart for animals, especially injured and sick animals.
he is so cute!
That is so incredibly sweet. Such an awesome story. He is the cutest thing too :)
Aww, I had no idea that one of your pups was so sick as a baby. Being an animal lover, this absolutely breaks my heart.
Kudos to you and your husband for taking him in and giving him such a loving home.
Happy Birthday Loot!
Sooo stinkin' cute. I'm so glad you were able to rescue him. It's SO sad to think of how many pups are treated badly!
Awww...happy birthday from Knox and the Smithwick's!
YAY! Happy birthday Loot! He was the perfect addition to your little family!
Wow...I am SO glad you posted this.
I literally just adopted a little tiny pit bull/chocolate lab mix from our local shelter and she was fine the first couple of days and then all of a sudden she got super sick...
I took her into the vet last night and they said she has pneumonia. I hospitalized her and they said I could pick her up today. Your blog post is SO encouraging to me...I am so worried about her and I am TERRIFIED that she has distemper...but this...this makes me feel like she has a really good chance!
I am so grateful to have read this! HAPPY BIRTHDAY LT. DAN!
What a sweet story!! Lt. Dan is a very lucky puppy!
I love that storey. YOu did a great thing, and he is lucky to be a part of your family. Rescues make the best dogs!
So sweet! Glad you picked up him when you did - you saved him!!!
Happy Birthday Loot! I remember when you got him and am so glad he has such a great home with you!
Adorable! Happy birthday LD!
He is so cute! Happy Birthday to LD! :)
I am so happy you shared this story! I just stumbled across your blog and am hooked now! We just adopted our first puppy from a high kill shelter, and I could not be more happy to save her life! It makes me so sad and angry to see how people could put down such sweet animals. OUr pup was so sick and came with many vet bills, but we made it work because she deserved a good home :)
So happy you shared ,this story melted my heart!
This Dan character is SO precious!!! Such a sweet little face!!
Lt Dan is soo freaking cute. I love that you asked at 5AM thats awesome.
Happy Birthday adorable puppy.
Tab
my-cliffnotes.blogspot.com
Well this had me tearing up! So happy that you guys saved him and that he's now a healthy pup in a loving home :)
Happy Birthday Lieutenant Dan with the sweetest face. I've read the story of how you adopted him back then. He's so lucky to have you.
Don't we just love our 4 legs child/children.
awww...what a cute name!
OH my goodness. I love this post. It made me tear up!! What selfless and loving people you are for taking in that darling puppy and giving him a good home!!!
One of our first foster dogs was named Lt Dan...we spent the ~3 months we had him walking around saying "Ice cream...Lt Dan...ice cream!" so fun, great name ;)
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