One Wild Beginning, Three Happy Endings 

  I have had four successes from the ARL. Nikki was our first adoption from ARL she was just a little thing when we got her.  In her short life with us, she was by far the most wonderful dog that we will ever own.  We lost her at five years old to a brain tumor. Shaggy came while Nikki was still with us. Her beautiful button eyes melted all of the day's troubles away.  Then, two days after we lost Nikki, my husband read his horoscope: “You will find you true love today.” And that he did.  As he walked into the ARL he was told that a litter of shepherd mixes just arrived.  It was love at first sight!  She adores her dad. And our fourth adoption, Sami. is our special needs dog.  A 6 month old under socialized, untrained dominant female German Shepherd.  I am grateful to the person that suggested that I train her in agility.  We do this for fun and it has helped her immensely!   She has since earned her CGC TDI title and will be working with children's reading programs. 

     Gunnar was adopted on July 11^th, 2007 from the Animal Rescue League.  I came to the ARL looking for a companion, and a partner.   My motive was to find a dog that was able to be trained in Search, and Cadaver work.  After my fire department gave me the go ahead to find a dog I automatically started at the shelters.  I found a few prospects and went to look at them, and none of them had the motivation or temperament that was needed in a service dog.  We were speaking to the vet and he said that he just spayed a 16 month old GSD, so I had to go see. He was still sedated, but I knew he was the one. I came back the next day to see if he had what it took, and he did. After reviewing his papers I knew he would fit in, he came from a home with other dogs, and a small child, and a perfect match.  Gunnar and I have been in training since that July, and he is doing very well, most of the time he proves that he is smarter than his handler.  We should be certified by the end of next summer, but we still have a lot of things to learn together.  My husband has an adopted bloodhound that is a police dog, and we have another GSD that we found tied up to a pole, and wouldn’t exchange them for anything. No one understands the love that a rescued dog has for its rescuers.  When someone asks about getting a dog, where they should go, I always tell them to start at the local shelters first.

I adopted Buddy over 2 years ago after finding him on the animal rescue league website.  I was living in a small apartment and this little guy seemed to be the perfect sized companion.  When I first met him, I was informed that he was "mouthy" - meaning he bites!-  he had a difficult time with strangers and was not recommended around children or other animals.  He was overweight, a senior dog (9years old), and had developed kennel cough in the time he was at the shelter.  I knew I'd have my hands full, but I thought he was just the cutest thing so I decided to give it a go. To my surprise, he didn't bite me when i put him in the car- in fact he rode on my lap the rest of the way home.  Some of his issues did present themselves over the next few weeks but he caught on quickly that his mommy was not going to let him bite people!  He is a super smart boy and I am very proud to say that within 2 months he was pleasant with any person he encountered, after 6 months he could be around other dogs and a year later I adopted another dog.  Buddy now is friendly with cats, dogs, strangers and even is wonderful with my young nephew.  Even at the ripe-old-age of 11 he still is learning and is still a very healthy boy.  I write this to urge prospective adopters- consider an older dog!  Buddy has NEVER had an accident in my house, he knows to make his outside visits quick when its cold or raining, he doesn't require the exercise younger dogs do, he's never gone on a chewing frenzy and his absolute favorite hobby is to snuggle with his mommy.  Please save these very deserving senior animals from spending thier last days in a kennel!