We recently adopted a dog wanted to share our story to build awareness about pet adoption and a great company called AnnieWear. AnnieWear is a clothing company that makes high-quality, fun, and functional animal-themed items or that special baby or toddler and gives a portion from each sale to animal rescue. They have their own line and also partner with popular companies such as Aden + Anais, B’Amici, Bambooh, Bibi & Mimi, Good Night Books, Kalencom, and more!
AnnieWear is going to share some stories of pet adoption on the tags of their clothing which inspired me to share mine with you.
We always knew that we would be dog owners. For our family, it was more of an issue of timing- making sure that the kids were old enough and taking the time to find the dog that was just right for us.
Just before the holidays, we started to look online for rescued Labradors. My husband’s family has always had Labs from Lab rescue-type organizations. For the past 30 years, they’ve adopted dogs and always owned at least two at a time. We wanted to do the same except we wanted to start with one dog.My husband led the charge in searching for Labs that would be compatible for a 4 and 7 year old. We looked at pictures and filled out applications well before we told our children of our dog quest and going to our first adoption event.
The first adoption event we attended was a bust. We walked in, adoption paperwork in hand, and met with the coordinator for an interview. We told our kids not to get their hopes up because it was unlikely that we’d go home with a dog. We were crushed not to have any glimmers of hope but we didn’t meet the right dog and continued our search.
Using PetFinder, we looked beyond the DC Metro area and started to consider dogs Pennsylvania and Virginia. My husband contacted rescue groups and foster families who listed Labs through PetFinder and made a list of dogs that we might visit the following weekend. One dog was 2 hours away in Southern Virginia, another 2 hours north near Philadelphia. It seemed crazy that we were going to drive all over the place to meet our future Lab but that’s what we were prepared to do.
Before the weekend, another Petfinder search found a yellow Lab on the website of a rescue group in Northern Virginia. Mutt Love Rescue had a dog named Oliver. He was three years old and not too far from our home. We decided to meet him first.
The adoption event for Mutt Love was held at a small independent pet store. Like the other event, foster families came with their dog. There was paperwork to complete, an interview amid the bags of dog food, and plenty of dogs to meet.
We met Oliver in the parking lot. Full of energy, this yellow Lab jumped on my husband when we first approached him and was quite excited to take us for a walk. There was no doubt that this beautiful dog was friendly and loved people. He had potential. We wanted this dog.
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| Oliver |
At the end of our very long interview, we learned that Oliver was found running on the side of the road the day after Christmas. The adoption coordinator happened to see him, opened up the door to her minivan, and he jumped right in. With a van full of dog food, I’m sure her car was any dog’s dream.
The coordinator had fostered him since she picked him up while trying to find his family despite having no identification except for an Invisible Fence tag. She told us it seemed odd that no one was looking for this gorgeous pure bred Lab but when she did finally find his family, they reluctantly took him back, saying that they were going to give him up in a couple of months. She told us she handed them her card and said she’d take him when they decided they no longer wanted him. Two days later they called and gave him away.
The coordinator had fostered him since she picked him up while trying to find his family despite having no identification except for an Invisible Fence tag. She told us it seemed odd that no one was looking for this gorgeous pure bred Lab but when she did finally find his family, they reluctantly took him back, saying that they were going to give him up in a couple of months. She told us she handed them her card and said she’d take him when they decided they no longer wanted him. Two days later they called and gave him away.
“If you’d like this dog,” the coordinator said, “I can bring him by tomorrow.”
We were thrilled.
Oliver came over the very next day. We bought everything we might need from the pet store and dog-proofed the house. The kids were ecstatic. And so was the dog.
Oliver spent the first two days with us following us around. He wouldn’t eat unless the entire family sat by his dog dish as he ate. He loved to play and leaned into anyone who would pet him. He was housebroken and crate trained. He had no interest in getting on the furniture. Or snatching food from the kids or off counters. He was the perfect dog for us.
It was unbelievable to us that someone would give away such a fine dog. Oliver was a dog that was once very loved by his family but them falling out of love with him was the best thing that could have happened to us.
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| A very sleepy Oliver |
If you are interested in shopping AnnieWear’s line and making sure that a portion of the purchase cost goes back to animal rescue groups, use BLOG2011 for 15% off of your purchase. Feel free to sign up with AnnieWear to hear what’s cool, what’s hot, and be the first to receive special offers.
This compensated post was sponsored by the Role Mommy Writer’s Network.
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