Reader Mail

I'm so excited to have reader mail to share today! Until 4:00 pm, I was 100% sure that today was Sunday. When I mentioned it to Jerry, he told me it was Monday. I'm STILL shocked. I am absolutely not ready to go up north in a couple of days.

Anyway, when I read this email from Valerie, I knew I had to share it. You all know that I'm a "cat person"--I completely adore Joey, of course, but I am a cat person, through and through. When I read this email, though, holy smokes--I couldn't believe how cute this dog is!

I asked Valerie if she minded that I share this, and she was happy to. I love a good heart-warming story!

When my son’s hamster passed away recently, he immediately wanted to replace him with another pet--a hamster or a bunny. I didn’t know anything about taking care of a bunny, and after researching the care required, I was not thrilled with the idea. It seemed like a lot of work and not much reward. 

A dog is a lot of work, but they love you unconditionally. I told my son he could get a dog, even though we already had two--Snickers and Twix. I started looking at the rescues to find a dog and was shocked to see adoption rates of $400, $500, $800! I understand needing to recoup expenses, but with shelters being so overcrowded, I would think it would be more reasonable. 

My son wanted a small dog, the size of a bunny, and fluffy. I also quickly learned there were no dogs like that in the shelters nearby. They are all big. The couple that were small came from a home where the owner had passed; those dogs were eight years old and blind. (Not a great option for a young boy.) 

I decided to go a different route--Craigslist. I ended up finding this cutie, a six-month old "Pomapoo", half-Poodle half-Pomeranian. Her family wanted to re-home her because she was a fourth dog and they were busy with jobs and teens who had school activities. They told me they wanted $200 for her. We picked her up the next evening.

I was nervous not knowing her personality... was she a little devil dog? But she is literally the sweetest dog ever! Her name is Dixie and she needs a candy bar name. My son loves baseball so I think Babe Ruth, and call her Babe or Baby. Or Kisses because she is full of kisses.

 

We have hypothetical names for other animals…if we ever get a cat it will be Kit Kat; if we ever get a cow (I love cows) it will be Milky Way. Our Pomapoo is six pounds and I’m told she’s full grown. We are taking her to get groomed on Wednesday. Her crazy hair is her trademark I feel like so I plan to have it put in a ponytail and we’re going to have her tail dyed hot pink. I’ll show you pictures after!

[Katie here now.] How stinkin' cute is this dog, seriously?!

I want to note a couple of things: For anyone who knows anything about me, it's obvious that I'm VERY much an advocate for: 1) having pets spayed or neutered; and 2) rescuing pets from shelters or organized rescues, or places that have pets who are unwanted and need a home. I am 100% against buying from a pet store or breeder (this was true long before I became vegan). 

If Valerie had bought her dog from a pet store, I wouldn't share it here (even though I adore Valerie--we've been in contact for years.) I just wanted to say that I love how she thought outside the box on this one. She *tried* a rescue and shelter. And she didn't give up-- she found a dog that was being re-homed because it was unwanted. And it was exactly what she was looking for. A great story.

That said, HOW COULD ANYONE NOT WANT THIS DOG?! ;)  That's how I feel about Joey. He was in the shelter for three months before we adopted him, and he's the best dog ever. Somebody really missed out, and I'm glad, because we had the privilege of adopting him into our family.

I am so happy for Valerie and her son for finding a great dog for their family. I love the candy bar theme for the pets! (We have hypothetical names for hypothetical pets as well--although we are running out of Friends characters, hahaha.)

Remember: If you ever have fun news to share, please email it to me! (With permission to use it, of course--just specify what/if is okay to share.) Whether it's getting married, buying a new home, getting a new pet, etc., let me share the news for you on my blog! katie (at) runsforcookies (dot) com.