I mentioned briefly in my last post that Eric and I recently
adopted a dog. Instead of telling you all about her then, I decided that Lucy
needed her own segment!
We adopted our sweet Lucy girl from the Greater Birmingham
Humane Society a little over a month ago, and it was love at first sight for
this pair of puppy loving Pozzos. Eric found her while we were walking around
the kennels “just looking” at the dogs. From the back she looked just like a
very pale golden retriever, a breed Eric’s family absolutely loves. I had told
Eric prior to this trip that the only way I’d get a golden is if it was a small
female (Eric’s parents’ dog is a large male whom I love, but wouldn’t do too
well in our apartment!). Well, Lucy
looked like a small version of a golden mix, so we asked to meet her.
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| Lucy on the day we met her! |
It took us about 10 seconds to decide we wanted this pup!
She was only a little over a year old and already house trained (a must for
us), plus she was sweet as could be! When we picked her up the following day
her excitement to be with us was precious to experience.
Now, over a month later, Lucy is a big part of our family.
It’s obvious that she knows we are her people and she absolutely adores us (lucky us!).
Everyday when Eric gets home (she hears his car beep outside when he locks it
and RUNS to the front door) I’m sure our neighbors can hear the THUMP THUMP
THUMP of Lucy’s tail against the wall as she greets him. Adopting Lucy was one
of the best things we ever did, not only did we gain a new family member but we
helped a sweet dog find a family to spend her life with.
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| Lucy and her daddy |
If you’ve ever thought about getting an animal, I would
highly recommend adopting from a shelter. You may hear that some of these
animals are ‘damaged goods’, but it’s simply not the case. For us, adopting was
the best option. Not only were we able to find a dog that was old enough to be
trained and young enough to spend a long time with, but she came up to date on
shots, already spayed, and with a microchip for if she ever got lost.
Here are seven reasons to choose a shelter animal as a pet:
1. You often avoid the vet costs for expensive
procedures such as spay/neuter and initial vaccinations. Some shelters may not
have the capacity to do this, but often vets will offer lower prices to
spay/neuter if the animal is a rescue.
2. If you are looking for a dog that is already
house trained, you can often find older animals (even some older puppies) that
were trained by their previous owners or by foster parents used by the shelter.
3. Shelter animals are often better socialized with
other animals as they live amongst them at the shelter (unless they have a
previous issue with other animals).
4. Most shelters will vet the animals and inform
you of vices, such as trouble around children or afraid of cats, so you know
which animals are right for you.
5. Shelter animals are generally much cheaper than
their counterparts (in addition to saving money on vet bills).
6. Adopting a shelter animal will open up space in
the shelter for other animals that are in need of rescuing.
7. Finally, you will feel a strong connection to
your shelter dog or cat because you gave them a wonderful home! Now you can
watch those tear-jerking ASPCA commercials with Sarah McLachlan and feel a
little better about yourself.
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| Lucy has become my sister's newest model |
If you’re in the Birmingham area and looking to adopt Eric
and I strongly recommend the Greater Birmingham Humane Society. They are a
clean, visitor friendly shelter that takes excellent care of their animals.
They also have great services, such as a free checkup with certain local vets
after adoption and puppy training classes at their facility.
Well, my shelter pup is currently poking her head around my
computer with her tug toy, so it looks like this Lucy segment is done. Time to
lose another round of tug-a-war.
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