How did you find your babies?? What ade you decide on him/her?

[Sunshine]

Okay, there are alot of threads about getting a dog/cat from the pound/rescue/ and some of us have gone to breeders, or (gasp) a pet store. Lets share our stories and why! I think it would be nice to hear.
I was not looking for a dog as such when I found my Violet. I went in the pet store to get cat food. My father had just passed away a few weeks before and as it was so unexpected my heart was in a million pieces and I was more than a mess. Self absorbed, and grieving in a way I did not know how to deal with in any way. So there I am paying for the cat food and a little 8 week old minpin is at my feet, looking at me with these eyes. I picked her up and I KNEW that it was love. I called my husband(then boyfriend) and he came right over. As soon as he saw MY eyes he knew. This was to be our girl. She came into our lives at time I did not know it was possible to feel anything but pain, and she made us laugh, and play and love again. She has turned out to be a wonderful dog.

Fast forward 2 years. We are married, all settled in a new home and our cat had passed away of feline aids...heartbreaking(that is another story, we adopted her and she was AWESOME). Violet had been on her own for quite some time and she really missed having a pal. So the search began. We really wanted a fawn and tan min pin and I began the search. It took me months. I talked to so many people, I wanted a warm breeder, I wanted references, I wanted information. It was a long process. I finally came across the breeder I was hoping for all along. She was amazing. We are in Key west, and she is in Lousiana. She invited us to meet her puppies. This was not possible at all at the time for so many reasons. So we talked for days and she sent lots of pics of the mom, dad and the different pups. After lots of talk I decided on Lilly.
When she arrived it was another gift we never could have expected.After a few weeks the girls fell into a beautiful friendship. Now they TOTALLY love each other. I would love to adopt a Min pin rescue ...and Im working on it. My husband is not ready for 3!!! They are a handful and the happiness and joy they have brought us I can not begin to put into words.
OK!!! That was long!!! Share your stories!! I think we will all enjoy reading them.

 

[Sunshine]

Sorry for yet ANOTHER typo in the post title...I seem to be doing that alot lately! sigh....ade=made

 

[Zophie]

I had a poodle that died and I knew I wanted a Maltese for my next dog. I had known someone with two Maltese and absolutely fell in love with them. They were just so sweet and my poodle had been a little meanie (though I did still love her of course).

So when I started looking for a Malt I looked in the paper and then talked to my vet. He told me I shouldn't have to pay more than $400 (this was 13 years ago) for a healthy Malt that wasn't show quality but a purebred healthy dog. He also told me to avoid ads that had multiple breads and always seemed to have ads as they might be puppy mills or some inbreeding. He told me to get a health guarantee in writing and he'd check out the pup before I'd commit.

So I found one single female pup in the paper for $275. I had to drive waaaay out in Violet, LA, to see her. The people were really sort of white trash and they had junk on their lawn and stuff but the pup was so cute! So they wrote me a guarantee and I brought her to my vet to check out. I tried not to look at her because I didnt' want to get attached if she had a health problem and I had to bring her back.

Now 13 years later I don't see how I resisted. I ended up with a healthy baby girl and she's standing here right now staring at me.

 

[Litigatrix]

Paprika more decided on us than us on her! We lived in Atlanta in a student ghetto, and there were tons of stray cats around (I think students get a kitten thinking how cute it is, then just move away and leave the cat there). Anyway, she started coming around our house and was so hungry that she ate a piece of bread that my roommate gave her. My husband (then boyfriend) and I decided that if we were going to give her food we needed to really be responsible for her, so we trapped her and took her in to get spayed. She was already spayed, so that was a lot of $$ for unnecessary bloodwork--oh well! When we moved to Chicago we had to catch her (she was still outside then--one of my roommates thought cats were instruments of the devil--literally). She really does not like to go in the crate and is not a pick-up kind of cat. My husband got all scratched up, but we got her and took her to Chicago, and she's been a high-rise apartment cat for 3 years and seemed to adjust quite fine. She actually doesn't like me that much; she's really attached to my husband, though.

Pics of her cuddling on my husband and my shoes (doesn't like me--loves my shoes).

 

[Danica]

wellll, I'm sure some of you have heard my stories before.
So, I had wanted a Chihuahua for a very long time, years actually, however I had a dog, Nikki, who was this cute little black thing, she looked like a seal pup, she was Cocker Spaniel/Terrier mix, I had picked her out from the Humane Society when I was a kid...sweetest dog ever, I mean really, sweeter than my dogs now lol anyways years ago while I still had Nikki, I had babysat my brother's friends chi, who was super teeny tiny, and very bitey. Little blighter! haha but really, she was a cutie.

Even years before that my stepmom's dad had a chi who we would see when we went to visit named Rafferty, even smaller and more bitey!! Thsi thing was the definition of ankle biter...and agressive and mean. I was afraid of Rafferty.

However, and I don't know why, but I loved the breed. DH did not like chi's thought they were ugly, etc. But I was determined to one day have one. He made it seem like that was never gonna happen, but the minute I walked into the room after arriving in Memphis, there Maya was, in her kennel, as cute as can be! There was actually a little note attached which read "Marry me? or you can't have what's inside" lol so you can see I really had no choice in the matter.

DH got her from a breeder, and she was sick. Kennel cough, parasites, and something else...So right away I was giving her 3 different kinds of medicine a day. She was my little buddy because I wasn't able to work when i first came here. So it was me and Maya, every day.

After awhile I wanted another chihuahua, I was looking at all of the rescue sites, and there are none in Memphis by the way... so it's a difficult search. But there was one in Alabama I was checking regularily, I kept showing certain dogs to DH, he kept telling me no because he wanted Maya to have someone young and healthy to play with...
After awhile of this I was trying to convince him to foster dogs, but he wanted to wait until we bought a house (which I can respect) .. so skip to my birthday in March (of this year) I come home from work, open the door, and DH is bending down walking towards the kitchen, he then stands up, looks at me and smiles, and Greta comes running towards me.

That is how I came to have the loves of my life.

 

[Sweetpea83]

http://www.spca.com/stories/

Under sweetest cat ever.

 

[wordbox]

I was going camping with my best friend and we spotted Ginger on the highway. I guess, in a way, she found us. There's a lot more to our story, but after spending some time with her I fell in love and adopted her through our humane society. That was six years ago. She's my baby, my "once in a lifetime" dog.

I saw Kizzy on our humane society's website. I check it regularly, just so I know what's there (partly out of curiosity and partly in case I hear of anyone looking for a pet). Anyhow, there was just something about her that made me want to at least look into getting her. When I went to see her for the first time, she ran up to me, jumped in my lap, and started licking my face. How could I resist?

 

[court811]

super cute thread!!

I had just bought a house (was single at the time had just started dating now DH) and I wanted a pet. Decided to go to the shelter to see if there was a nice maybe year old cat that would work out.

I went into the adult cat room and no one really struck me, so the woman suggested I go into the kitten room. As soon as I walked in the room I heard a very cute, but insistant "MEOW!" and a smack on my arm from a little orange furry hand. I looked at the upper cage on my right, just inside the door, and there was the cutest little 12 week old orange kitty you've ever seen. My mom was with me and I said "ohhh, what a little pumpkin" and my mom said "that's his name"! And so it is (he's the furbaby in my avatar and he's now almost 4). Now for the fun part, inside his cage with him, sound asleep in the corner on a towel, is his sister, I felt terrible at the thought of breaking up the last two in a litter, so I woke her up and sat down and held her in my lap. She started purring like crazy even though she was still half asleep, so I knew I had to take her home too. So Pumpkin and Gracie it is. I love these guys so much, they are WONDERFUL cats, very friendly and affectionate, DH loves them too.

I'm a big proponent of shelter animals, the shelter I adopted these two from is Operation Kindness in Carrollton,TX (DFW area), and they did a wonderful job making sure that I would be a good cat mom.

I like to joke that Pumpkin decided that day that he was going to find Gracie and him a mom that day, so he told her to "just sit back and look cute, I'll take care of it", he saw me walk in and said "she's it, hurry up, look cute!". haha, I'm such a nerd!

 

[ILuvShopping]

My mom worked at a veterinary clinic for about 18 years i think... she's not a vet but more like a secretary but she helped out a lot with shots and stuff... so always growing up i would go in and look at all the animals so needless to say we got most of our cats from there... once i moved to college and got my first place my first cat dotcom came from the clinic, a stray cat was found and ended up having babies at the clinic so i took one. another stray kitten came in shortly later.. my mom said they found him in a puddle of oil... my brother took him and named him Shooter... eventually my brother couldn't have cats at his apartment so i adopted shooter... I think they are now about 5 years old.

Maybe about.... 3 years later i lived in a different apartment.. was leaving on a sunday morning to goto work... there was a cute little kitten sitting on the steps of the building... i hate it when people leave kittens! so i told myself that if she was still there when i came home from work i would take her in... so i came home... 6 hours later... she was still sitting on the steps... i saw that people had left out food and milk for her but i took her in... dotcom and shooter weren't so happy....decided it wasn't such a good idea.. took her back outside.... it broke my heart so much that i brought her back inside about 10 min later and she's never left! I found her on a sunday and in my car i was playing no doubt's first CD and i think the song is called "sunday morning" was playing so i named her Sunday

spring forward to 8 months ago a co-worker i used to work with, her cats had kittens and most of them were all gray but two of them had some white on their faces and on their back legs and they were soooooooooooo cute so i couldn't resist! his name is Meeko.

 

[Sunshine]

I LOVE this!!!!Keep sharing!

 

[~*Sassy*~]

My Sophie was a blessing who just fell into my lap.

A friend was adopting a puppy from the Humane Society, and she wanted me to go with her to pick up the puppy so I could help hold her in the car, etc.. While we were waiting for the staff to bring her out, I wandered out the "Puppy/Small Dog" room. I had jokingly told my boyfriend and all my friends not to worry b/c there was NO way I was coming home with a dog. I had just moved into my first apartment, and I worked full-time so I didn't feel like I was at a point where I was "ready" for a dog, even though I had been talking about wanting a mini/Italian greyhound for my birthday.

The kind of dog I theoretically wanted was an Italian greyhound, i.e. short coat, around 10 lbs, delicate build, female. I was totally uninterested in any of the Lab/Chow/Golden/Doberman/etc.. mixes that were going to grow up to be big and hairy. The only non-puppy in the room was a female rat terrier named Katie. She was around a year, housetrained, spayed, microchipped, had her shots, etc.. She was the cutest thing ever. And EXACTLY what I had been looking for. Same build, same size, etc.. I couldn't even take her out of the cage b/c I knew there was no way I could leave her if I did.

So I was waiting outside with my friend, and I kept thinking about this dog. I called my parents, and they were of course totally opposed to the idea. And I never do anything against their wishes (seriously..I don't. LOL). But I kept thinking about the sweet dog, and how everything happens for a reason, and I just knew I had to get her.

I took my friend back to work, and then turned right around and went back and adopted her. I renamed her Princess Sophia, aka Sophie, and she is such a sweetheart. It breaks my heart to imagine anyone giving her up (they found her wandering on the streets, a guy kept her for 2 weeks looking for the owner, then took her ASPCA).

My family has another dog we adopted, a black lab/border collie mix named Tia who is the sweetest, most loving dog ever. I will only ever adopt dogs, never buy a purebred puppy, but that's my personal preference. As long as you love your pet, it doesn't matter where it came from.

 

[Irishgal]

I had 2 doxies Roscoe and Tassie, I got them in 1991, Tassie went to the rainbow bridge Jan 3 2004 and Roscoe June 4 2006. The pain of losing these animals was so great I said no more doggies. That lasted for about one week. The house was so empty without doggies, I got Casey one year ago and Millie one month later from www.delgadog.com, south ca doxie rescue.

 

[mcmahan706]

Settle in- there are 6 of them
Mack- Brittany spaniel. unheard of in these parts, but was the dog of choice when my husband was growing up. Found someone local who had a litter. Lineage is dubious, 12 years later, Mack is very loyal, is very arthritic, has cataracts in both eyes, but is loving and comes over for chest scratch.
Rascal- the yorkie with no papers, but a full tail. My husband saw an ad in the paper, knowing I wanted a yorkie. Called me to stop by and look on my way home from grad school. Looked like a yorkie, but not now. We think he is a yorkiepoo. Sleeps on my pillow, follows me everywhere. And has been in the coach outlet!
Lewis- silky terrier. Looking for the same charm Rascal has. Lewis has "short man syndrome" Excellent cuddler.
Sam- Bought in the land of the Brittany, aka Oklahoma. Since we couldn't find one here, we bought one there. He just kind of picked us. Put him in a crate, two days later upon arrival home, had a crate trained dog. Six years later, the crate is HIS. Woe to the dog who ventures near. Takes the toys and hides them in his crate. In second episode of liver failure. If he had been a child DSS would have been called due to the number of vet visits for accidents. Torn toenail, infected neuteuring incision, bloody nose.
Pete- chocolate lab. husband needed lab for hunting. We knew nothing about choosing hunting animals. I picked Pete cause he had yellow droopy eyes. Has absolutely no desire to retrieve. Excellent couch potato. 80 pounds and 100% chicken. Recently neutered due to inappropriate activity with female lab which resulted in 10 lab pups. Apparently you cannot watch them close enough.
Emma-chocolate lab. rescue of sorts. Her original owner (co-worker) was pressured to sell because she scared his 5 year old daughter. She was chosen from champion hunting stock. AKC Junior Hunter, currently at summer camp working on Senior Hunter. Can open back door with paw. Just got back from a visit. Making friends with the two young female pups at camp as well. Lewis is personal chew toy.

What made me decide? I am a sucker for a puppy.

 

[rothjess]

What a great thread! I so love hearing how people came to find their babies.

Here's how I found my girl...I moved from New Mexico to Maryland in 2003 then moved to Virginia in 2004. Before my 2004 move, I decided I wanted a dog; I hadn't had one in my household in awhile (my shih tzu passed in 9/03). I did my research on breeds since I was living in a small apartment and was at work most of the day, I needed a small, independent (which ruled out shih tzu unfortunately) breed. After much research, I decided a pomeranian would be a good fit into my lifestyle / space restrictions / etc.

I told one of my friends in NM that I think I wanted a Pom. She said "oh really" and started sending me links of Poms on petfinder that the rescue she works with just took in. The dogs were found in an abandoned puppy mill that was set up in an old airplane hangar. She also told me all the dogs were classified as feral. They were not used to any human contact except to force breed and take puppies. Any of them would need a lot of work and a lot of patience. Upon seeing the pictures of Breezy (a more recent picture of her is my avatar), I instantly fell in love. I told my friend she was the dog I want, but had no way to get her to me. Not only that, I was about to start a 2 hour each way commute until I could move closer to work in November and that would be really unfair to any animal.

My friend offered to foster Breezy from late April - December 20, 2004. She also managed to talk the woman in charge of the rescue into an out of state adoption (something they usually don't allow). That December, I was home for the holidays and picked up Breezy on my 29th birthday (what a great present!).

She was terrified. I couldn't get a collar or harness on her without her slipping it and I had trouble catching her. The vet talked me into a partial choke chain on her (I hate choke chains, but the partial part was my compromise) and told me she'd have to drag a leash around. I flew her home with me back to Virginia around New Years.

At home, I couldn't touch her without her releasing her anal glands, couldn't pet her, listened to her cry every night without being able to comfort her, and worked with her a little bit every day. It's been 2.5 years since I adopted her. Breezy roams around leash free when she's inside (outside she's still on a leash for her safety), sleeps in bed with me instead of under it, hardly cries at night, and has discovered she likes vacations (she likes my uncle's place in the Poconos best. the beach didn't really work for her...she's far too prissy). We're still working on the petting / touching part (she doesn't like it too much) and some other things, but she's come so far, I'm constantly amazed at her progress.

Lots of people have called me crazy for taking in such a special needs dog. I've always believed the dog picks you, it's not the other way around and as hard as our first year was together, I wouldn't change it for the world!

 

[bravorodrig]

One day my hubby came from work and invited to an early dinner. After it he askedme if I wanted to see the dogs on sale @ a place on the side of the road where breeders used to gather. I said yes. He was prepared ($$ in hand) to get me a beagle if I fell in love with one. We got there and looked at some doxies (sooo cute!!). Them he called me over to where he was. There was a breeder with 2 6 week old beagles, brother and sister. He handed me the male and he was soo precious. I cuddled him and he just turned into a ball and looked at me straight in the eyes. It was love at first sight and we got him on the spot. My Buster...

Two years later hubby was out one day getting my bday presents. He called me and told me that there was a breeder with beagle babies near our house. He asked me to go see them. I did and liked one. I got home and we discussed it and decided not to get the second. We kept going back to puppies and decided to see if the guy was still there. He was, getting ready to leave, and my hubby had his mind made up already. He had fallen in love with the runt. She was quiet and in a corner while her siblings were all over the place. So we got her...my Leeloo, the sweetest little girl.