It’s Story Time!
Today, I want to tell you a little story about some crazy dog people.
Once upon a time, there was a young couple who was very much in love.
They had two wonderful dogs named Ranger and Cullen.
They were a wonderfully happy little family. But they were missing something – they wanted to add one more family member. And not one of the human variety (not yet, at least). Amanda wanted a sweet little kitten – she had one when she was growing up and has always loved cats. Corey wanted a third dog, because he had never had a cat before and he thought the first two dogs would love to have another one to play with.
Amanda did not want another dog. She swore up and down to Corey that they would never ever have a third dog – they were getting a cat and that was the end of the story.
Well…
Last Sunday, the couple was out and about running errands. They happened to drive past Petsmart and see that there was an adoption event going on, as there are most weekends. They loved to visit the dogs and play with them at these adoption events, so they decided to stop in, with Amanda throwing in a request to stop and look at the cats as well.
As they walked up to the store, they realized that all of the dogs in the cages that day were actually puppies – a rare occurrence at these events. As soon as they approached the cages with the puppies, Amanda honed in on a tiny little black and tan puppy sleeping peacefully on the ground. After checking the paper attached to her cage, Amanda learned that it was a purebred Doberman Pinscher – her dream dog. She immediately plopped down on the ground to give the puppy some love, and within about half a second fell completely head over heels for this tiny little malnourished dog.
After about 5 minutes of playing with the dog, Amanda decided that she must make this dog hers. Corey had been begging her for a third dog for months and months, so she figured it was a no-brainer – Corey would be excited, they would bring this sweet little girl home, and she would become a part of their little family.
Except, that’s not how it happened. After thinking it over for a few minutes, Corey decided that he was not ready to get another dog yet – both of them work all day and are out of the house, so the timing just wasn’t ideal.
Amanda was heartbroken. She had been so convinced that this sweet little dog was going to be hers and she was blindsided by Corey’s “no” answer. They had a rough couple of days after that, as Amanda had a hard time letting go of the idea of adopting that sweet little dog, and Corey just wouldn’t change his mind. There were tears. There were protests. It was sad.
But, as hard as it was, by Tuesday when Amanda and Corey headed back to work after the long weekend, they were both over it. Amanda was still sad that the dog would not become a part of their family, but she had accepted Corey’s decision.
And then, when she got home…well, there was a tiny little Doberman puppy waiting for her in the backyard. She cried. It was wonderful, sweet, and completely surprising.
They decided to name the new puppy Hadley. After some research, they learned that she had been dropped off at the animal shelter wit her four sisters by a local “breeder” (read: puppy mill owner) because they were sick, malnourished, and completely emaciated – she couldn’t sell them, so she needed to get rid of them. After taking Hadley to the vet, they learned that she had tapeworms, roundworms, and Giardia (a protozoa that can cause serious illness in dogs – and humans). She was also at least 10 pounds underweight and had two different spots on her body (one from being spayed, and one from either an improperly administered shot or a dog bite) that were infected.
They left the vet with more medicine than they had ever seen for one tiny little dog, including some vitamins that were intended to help her gain a bit of weight.
The other dogs in the family weren’t sure about Hadley at first – her insane level of puppy energy was exhausting for them, and they kind of seemed to wish she would just go away. But after a few days they seemed to accept that she wasn’t going anywhere, and they slowly began to play with her and accept her as one of their own. They still aren’t completely sure whether or not they like her, but they seem to understand that she’s here to stay.
The couple soon realized that it was almost impossible to get a good photo of their new puppy. Thanks to her endless energy (and the fact that she hasn’t learned the command “sit” yet), photos taken of her always tended to look like this…
But every once in a while they would get lucky and manage to snap a few good photos of Hadley.
The new little family was a little more chaotic, a little more busy, and a lot more exhausted when they crawled into bed each night. But it was all worth it for those sweet, sweet puppy cuddles.
And they lived happily ever after.
Anyone else ever adopt a new pet that you originally had no intention of getting?
Awww!!! What a GREAT story!!! She is adorable! I am so jealous!
I have two pups (and have been basically begging for a third, but the bf has the veto on that….for now) Our first one was actually an unexpected gift from my bf’s mother! 6 months later I had to have this adorable staff terrier that I saw on a rescue site. Needless to say, we now have a yorkie and a staff terrier, who are best friends with a 65 pound difference in size! Dogs are the best!!
What a sweet story and a wonderful addition to your family!
That video is adorable! SIt’s so cute that Corey captured that moment. 🙂
Congrats! I hope she is healthy soon. I cried when I watched your video, it makes me sad she came from a breeder but I’m so glad you adopted her through the humane society.
Love it! Way to go Corey 🙂 Hadley looks like a wonderful addition (and if I had a backyard like that you can bet that we’d probably have three dogs too!)
Looove that video!! She’s absolutely adorable! Congrats on the new addition to the family! Hope she gets better soon. Zoe was half the size she should have been when we got her and she bounced back so quickly. Hadley will be just fine!
That’s good to hear! She’s already gained two pounds since we took her to the vet on Friday, so that’s good!
Oh man, I have had giardia before. Not fun! I didn’t know dogs could get it. Poor Hadley! She is adorable.
OMG SO CUTEEEEEE! We have three pugs ourselves, so I know the deliberation that leads up to it. I love the video your hubby made, very happy for you guys!
1. Love the name Hadley, if I have a baby girl in December that will be her name!
2. Yes, that has happened to me! I was looking at petfinder one evening and showed a litter of puppies to my then fiancé. He said absolutely not until after the wedding and I kept bringing it up and tried to find other people to adopt them. Lo and behold I had forced him to crack and he brought the cute 4 pounder home the following Wednesday! Needless to say a was pretty freaking shocked!
Haha, cute story! I actually have talked Corey into two of our three dogs! He wasn’t sure about Ranger at first either!
What a sweet surprise!!
P.S. Corey is too cute. I thoroughly enjoyed his British accent! 😉
So I am a crazy dog person too… Proof- I totally cried watching that video!! Congrats, you guys! Hadley looks like she fits right in! 🙂
Such a sweet surprise! Yay Corey. That was a great video of you two, and you can show the (human) kiddos down the line 😉
What a sweet baby! I may have teared up at the video. That was too sweet of Corey to do!
My second dog, Eleanor, was a total unexpected adoption. We weren’t even looking for another dog yet when a friend sent us a link to a cutie pie at his local shelter. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out with that little guy, but while visiting that shelter, we fell in love. I can totally relate to you guys and getting Hadley.
Such a sweet video! And awesome husband!
I’m glad I read the first comment. I wondered if she was named after Sookie’s cousin!
Anyway, she’s adorable, and I am so jealous. I so want a second dog!! She’s a lucky little lady to have you guys bring her home and take care of her! Although, it makes me sad that she was so underweight :(. Hope she gets healthy soon!
Is she your first girl dog? We got Pancakes because she needed a home, but I never had a female dog before. She’s a Bichon so the breed isn’t aggressive at all, but I always wondered if the girls were less aggressive than the males.
She’s our first girl dog together, but I always had female dogs growing up. Typically speaking, females are MORE aggressive and territorial than males, though. She’s been great so far and we haven’t had any aggression problems – but she plays way rougher than our other dogs! I think it just all depends on how they’re raised, you know? Females are definitely supposed to be more aggressive, but as I said – I always had female dogs growing up and have never had any aggression problems.
oh my… that is a roller coaster of a story with such a sweet ending. I love it. You have a beautiful family. I can’t wait to see what your holiday cards look like this year 🙂
Awww, such a precious puppy! She is so lucky to have been adopted into your family!
So sweet! I love that Corey captured it on film 🙂 Welcome to the fam Hadley!
Hadley is adorable! Isn’t it crazy how much energy puppies have? There’s a reason so many of my dog’s puppy pictures were of her sleeping; it was the only time she was sitting still!
Hah, yes! She’s nuts!
So sweet!! I’m glad that you guys were able to adopt her!
Hadley is so adorable! What a happy story. My husband and I are about to add another dog to the family as well – and it was also unexpected. I volunteer at an animal shelter and they needed a foster home for a dog with a broken leg. We offered up our home, and needless to say, a month later we can’t imagine not having her in the house. Her leg is healed and she loves to play with our other dog, so now we just need to make it official, fill out the adoption paperwork, and give her a proper name. Best wishes with Hadley, hope she is healthy soon, keep us updated!
there are no words! hadley is adorable and congrats to the happy little family! on a funny side note, i’ve had giardia here in cambodia and it is no fun, so i can’t imagine poor hadley with such a thing! so glad she found a happy home with you and corey, ranger and cullen!
Precious puppy and a keeper of a hubby. Nice job, Corey.
Awww. Sweet Corey! What a cute puppy! I hope the meds help her get better soon. I’m sure Ranger and Cullen will accept Hadley into their pack soon. Sweet name for her, by the way. How did you come up with it?
It took a lot of debate to land on that name! We ended up with Hadley because both of our other dogs have names based off of characters in books that I (or we) have read and enjoyed (Cullen from the oh-so-embarrassing Twilight series and Ranger from Janet Evanovitch’s Stephanie Plum series), so we wanted something from a book as well. Hadley is a name that we really liked that also happens to be the name of a (minor) character in the Sookie Stackhouse novels. 🙂