Baby

One day while I was at work, I received a text from my fiancé. It was a picture of a dog. When I asked whose dog it was, he replied with, "I found her on the side of the road and spent an hour trying to coax her over to me." He snapped the picture before heading over to the police station so they could try to find her owners. He called the next day to check in on her and was directed to the local animal shelter since she had no chip. The shelter said she was quarantined for two weeks while they tried to locate her owners and make sure she had no illnesses.

During the time she was there, we talked extensively about the possibility of getting her. We missed having a dog since we had to give our other dog to a friend due to a drastic change in living situation. We've been struggling to get back to a normal life for over a year but we couldn't let her sit there. When the shelter called to say she was off quarantine and no one had come forward we drove down to see her. She was quite standoffish when we took her out to the play yard. She'd come close enough to sniff and then run off. Very little interaction from her. I was worried that she wouldn't be a good fit for our family because the girls would want to play with her and love her. We left feeling less than convinced that we should take her.

A week later we went back to the shelter and adopted her. We had decided that she was probably afraid of being dumped again. The vets estimated her age to be 4-5-years-old. The scars on her face, head and legs indicate her previous home life left much to be desired and she was dropped off on the side of the road. My fiancé was the only person that day she would go to. We named her Baby. We bought her a purple collar and leash and made sure she had everything she would need. As soon as she got in our truck, her attitude towards us changed, like she knew we were there to save her.

We brought her home to meet our older daughter and let her get used to her new home. After a couple hours, we brought her to pick up our younger daughter from day camp. She started crying when she opened the door and saw Baby; she did take it really hard when we gave our other dog to a friend of mine. Baby immediately started snuggling with her while she cried tears of happiness.

It's been almost four months since we adopted her. She has made a lot of progress and we are learning as much as we can about her. It's hard when you don't know an animal's past but I can almost promise you that while our life may not be perfect, it's a lot better than what she had before. I also think she's a shining example that an animal's capacity for pure love is stronger than any past pain they may have experienced.