Sully is a Rescue Dog

Our dear girl, Happy, had passed. We were grief-stricken, and I admit there was a hole her size in my heart I was trying to fill.

Only two months later we brought Sully into our lives, and into his new home.

The two dogs were as different as night and day.

Happy was happy, old, sweet-tempered.

Sully is the exact opposite, being only two years old when we got him from the shelter.

He didn't like any of when we first met us. He backed away and growled as the four of us (me, my partner and our two teens) approached him in the yard of the animal shelter.

It was during covid, and we had to choose a dog to meet based on a photo on the shelter's website. There was no wandering around for a couple of hours looking at different dogs like the last time.

We met Sully that day, while the shelter worker held onto his leash. We walked together along the wooded trails around the building, and sat in the caged paly area, offering him treats quietly, trying to gain a little trust.

He did begin to at least stop growling and sniffed our hands for treats.

After about an hour and a half, we all agreed to take him home. We felt no one else would. He was known to be aggressive: he had been abused, and even shot in the face, damaging one eye.

He had been at the shelter a year already-half of his life so far.

I filled out his application, and we came and got him a couple weeks later.

My partner brought Sully home from the animal hospital, where he had been neutered and given a chip and shots. He was lethargic from sedation and laid on the floor for hours.

The first two weeks were pretty difficult, mostly for me and Sully. I was home alone with him for most of the day, while they were gone to work and school.

First of all, he's a large dog who didn't want to be here. He didn't like me, and I was afraid of him.

I was nervous, and he knew it. I kept treats in my pocket at all times, and I kept his harness on.

At one point, I told my partner to take him back to the shelter, because I was full of anxiety all the time.

Thankfully, he talked me out of it.

After that, I made a commitment to think about Sully first, instead of my own feelings and discomfort about the situation. He was just a scared dog who had been taken from a place where he probably felt safe after his first home, and thrust into a new place, with strangers.

I started to really pay attention to him. I began to feel affection for him. I was no longer just tolerating him, and waiting for my partner to come home and relieve me of my burden.

And I fell in love.

Two years later, Sully is the light of my life.

I cannot imagine my life without him. We are best friends. We take long walks on the trails and to the beach. I hug him every day.

He looks at me with love in his eyes. He gets hysterically happy when I've been gone and I get home.

I've had a couple of other dogs, that I loved and cared for, but I know there's a difference with him.

We have a special bond, like my partner had with Happy.

I'm so glad I didn't take him back to the shelter that day.