Once Upon A Time

There were two unsuspecting humans named Andy and Brittany...

Yay! We've been tagged by both Rufus & Indie and Coulee & Lacey to tell how Stella and Rufus came home!

Stella's Story
Since I was little, I wanted a dog. Sadly, because they drool, shed, pee outside, and the upkeep is $$$, my parents always said no. So, when I moved out on my own, one of the first things I did was look into getting a dog. Back when I was in high school, a TV show I really liked had a shar pei in one of its episodes, and I knew that one day I wanted one. I looked mostly online...I was obsessed with www.petfinder.com. I also knew I wanted to rescue a dog.

Lo and behold, our local small-town shelter had a shar-pei on petfinder one day. She looked rather sickly. Her eyes were runny. Her nose was runny. She was a squat little thing, and didn't look like she'd live much longer. After work, however, I thought I would swing by the shelter and check her out. The shelter was closing, but they said I could quick check around. I stopped by her cage and fell in love. She just looked up at me like, "Hey, lady, how's it going?" and wagged her tail. She wasn't jumping or barking like any of the other dogs. Just laying there like it was a lazy Sunday and she had nothing better to do.

I went back the next day (not mentioning anything to Andy) and took her out for a testwalk. My feeling of love changed to OMGihavetohaveher. I called Andy up, explained the situation. ("I found the dog I want...can I have her?") and Andy, warily, said, "yes." When I brought her home, she was covered in fleas and her nails hadn't been clipped in weeks. She had bald patches behind her ears from scratching. But, she knew sit and stay; she never begged at the table; she didn't have accidents in the house; she was incredibly polite to visitors. Stella is my soul dog. She has a knack for understanding me and knowing just how to be there for me.

First picture of Stella:



The crate she never slept in. She whines like a dying seal and I couldn't bear to put her in a crate at night. So into bed she hopped.



Stella and her first (now world famous) drool:



Her first trip to the pumpkin patch:



Stella and the love of her life...her dog bed.



Rufus's Story

I wanted another dog to keep Stella company during the day, but we knew we had to get a male puppy. We had previously tried to adopt another female dog from the shelter, but Stella avoided her like the plague, and they did not get along. We figured with a puppy, she would be more inclined to accept him. We wanted our next dog to be on the small side...around Stella's size, so we looked at Boston Terriers. Andy really liked a female puppy from Midwest Boston Terrier Rescue, and I thought maybe a female wouldn't be too bad as long as she was raised with Stella. So we filled out all the paperwork, and when they contacted us, they informed us that the female was taken, but would we like one of the males?

Andy and I figured why not? So the day after our New Year's Eve party, (with Andy still semi-hung-over) we drove two hours to look at "Beau." Andy was expecting some little ankle-biter puppy, but what the lady brought out was what looked like a black and white lab puppy. Andy was overjoyed. The lady told us that Rufus was rescued from a puppy mill. From what I gathered, the animal cruelty people found a woman who was hoarding animals. She had over 40 horses on her property, and the ones who had died were just covered with tarp and manure. They removed all animals from her property and told her she could no longer own animals. When they went back to check on her, she had acquired more dogs and was running a puppy mill with BT's, chihuahuas, pomeranians, and other small dogs. There were no male dogs on the premises, so we have no idea who Rufus's daddy is. Rufus was only a few weeks old when he got rescued from the puppy mill, so he is not traumatized by it, unlike his mother, who had a lot to learn about humans. Now, he is a happy 7 month old terror.

Stella nicely shared her doggy bed, even when Rufus got it all soggy with icicles he brought in from outside.



Probably one of my all time favorite pictures of puppy Rufus.



Who's the cutest puppy in the world?

I am!



(Rufus began hittin' the bottle at an early age.)

The End.

I pass this along to anyone else who wants to write about their dog's beginnings!