What made you choose your pets?

[Mokat76]

Big dog. I adopted him as a puppy. He supposedly was mostly boxer. He’s mostly Pitt/staffordshire. Still a great pup.
Small dog: bug dog needed a pal and he prefers smaller dogs. Got a three-legged, 11yo terrier mix. He’s a grumpy old man but the two dogs are fast friends.
Cat: adopted a 4yo, long haired polydactyl cat because he had a damaged eye. Got him to replace the last of my cat crew. He’s pals with big dog. He and little dog mostly tolerate each other.
All are rescues. All my pets for my whole adult life have been.

 

[CynBeth]

I have always loved dogs but we never had them. My DH grew up with dogs and cats. A few years after we were married we talked about getting a dog and knew we wanted to rescue one from a shelter. Back then our local paper featured pets from the 3 big shelters in our area as I call them and one of the dogs stood out to me. She was a 4 year old golden retriever and greyhound mix and I have always loved goldens. We visited all shelters to be sure but when we saw her at the shelter and spent time with her absolutely loved her and were so lucky after we applied to get the call a day or 2 later that she was ours. She lived people but was hit or miss with other dogs. We lost her at the age of 13. A few weeks after we had to put her down we started looking at the shelters and found our current dog at the same one our first dog came from. She is a German shepherd and hound mix who had just turned 2 years old that was abused. She is going to be 10 in January. She has come a long way but it takes her time to feel comfortable with people she just met and still has separation anxiety and over the past year developed a fear of fireworks and thunder and lightening and even some heavy rain. She is very affectionate and protective once you gain her trust. She loves other dogs always want to say hi.

 

[cvjw]

Our 2 cats just showed up at our house.

 

[MamaMermaid]

We were looking for cats and my mom sent me a picture of a little black fluffy kitten at the shelter. We went as soon as we could and thankfully she was still there... along with her brother who also came home with us. They're the best.

 

[imbelle]

We were looking for cats and my mom sent me a picture of a little black fluffy kitten at the shelter. We went as soon as we could and thankfully she was still there... along with her brother who also came home with us. They're the best.

My sister said that the shelter told her that they have a hard time getting people to adopt black cats. So she came home with three of them.

 

[Adelle Dazeem]

I chose the breed of dog (Pembroke Welsh Corgi) because I wanted an energetic dog that was on the smaller side, but with an attitude. I didn't want a dog so tall it could counter surf. I lost my cocker spaniel in 2020 and I couldn't handle getting another of the same breed - too painful. The corgi I got turned out to be one of the laziest dogs ever...LOL. I walk her about 2.5-3 miles every morning and for at least 2/3 of the walk, I practically have to drag her. She's so pokey slow.

 

[WDWDCLDLFAN]

Our beloved 16-year old cat died in 2017. A couple of months later we went to our local animal protection center where we saw a “bonded pair”; a brother and sister that had to be adopted together. They were about 5 years old at the time. I felt the need to make sure this pair stayed together so we adopted them. They’re both “senior” cats now but they still get around fine, just a little slower.

So that’s how we chose our pets!

 

[MamaMermaid]

My sister said that the shelter told her that they have a hard time getting people to adopt black cats. So she came home with three of them.

A girl after my own heart! I'd take them all if hubby would let me.

 

[mjkacmom]

I finally agreed to get a dog, I wanted an older one and told the kids the dog would find us. I had a friend who fostered and convinced me she had the perfect puppy, 3 months old, crate trained, housebroken, terrier mix. She’s now almost 14, has a malignant tumor on her spine, so we just wait.

 

[WDWEPCOT]

I lost my cat I didn’t lose him I had to have him cross the rainbow bridge I waited for the cat distribution system to come find me but it just wasn’t working and it always worked in the past so I actively started looking for a new cat it took months and I found the most adorable kitten in the world but I was 15 minutes too late and putting in an application for him so I went and got his sister and said if the person doesn’t show up I really want him to and as the star is aligned the person did not show up for him so I got him and his sister so I didn’t get one cat I got two what was I thinking??? she’s very sweet he’s a little devil
I have a crazy psychotic dog that I’ve loved dearly what made me get him again my poor other dog got brain cancer age 13 he was the sweetest most wonderful dog I miss him dearly and I wanted another one immediately and I picked this one out because he was absolutely adorable And he is absolutely adorable he’s just crazy!! he’s a lab that explains it all!! His cuteness makes up for his antics the kittens have warmed up to him especially the little devil in the male those two get into all kinds of trouble but it really warms my heart that they all get along so well!! it’s crazy at times like every night and every morning I’m tripping over animals constantly but they bring me great joy and entertainment!!! And I’ve been very blessed to find a pet sitter that actually loves my dog and thinks he’s awesome she’s never been around cats and I’m hoping someday the cats will warm up to her!!!

 

[Diznygrl]

All of my cats chose me...they have all been neighborhood strays that I've taken in. 12 cats total over the years. I've never had to visit a shelter to adopt a pet, haha (not sure I could even choose that way...it would break my heart!). Even my childhood dog was a stray.

 

[EACarlson]

When we moved from an apartment to a house, my wife and I told our kids we would get a dog. We found one at the local animal shelter that we liked, went to go look at it but it was already gone. Walked up and down the kennels and my wife asked to see a little malnourished puppy. The dog came into the room, put her paws on my wife's knee and licked her nose. I knew that was going to be the dog we brought home.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

DH already had the dog when we got together...

As far as the cats, I heard black ones needed rescued the most, so I grabbed a bonded pair. Unfortunately, I don't think they like me

 

[TippyThomas]

I wonder if the black cat thing is regional? We very, very seldom get black cats at the shelter. We have many more white cats, tabbies and the occasional orange. Black cats are few and far between for us. I guess I should be glad considering how it seems to go in other parts of the world.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

Morticia's disapproving look.... She is a bit rude, but I love her

 

[WDWDCLDLFAN]

View attachment 924629
Morticia's disapproving look.... She is a bit rude, but I love her

This is my son’s cat, Merlin. Adopted as a kitten.





My other son’s cat, Snickers. Adopted at age 3, from a shelter.

 

[hertamaniac]

We went to the humane society (or SPCA) and saw a big girl (about 95 pounds). We were told she was abused multiple times by the same owner. That owner tried to reclaim her but lost his/her case. We were told she was about 2 years old. We went into the greeting room and interacted with her. We left and drove back home, about 30 minutes away, and told my wife that we would think about it.

I saw the dejection on her face when we got home. I had about 10 minutes to think about the commitment, etc. I then asked my wife what she was doing (I think she was cleaning a countertop) and said something like, "well, if we leave now, we can go adopt her". I don't think I've seen her smile that much in a long time. We made it to the facility at 2:58 or so (they close at 3 PM on a Saturday). The greeter told us they were closing, but we explained that we wanted to adopt her. She stopped everything and told other co-workers, "We have an adoption". We got our new girl, and she wagged her stub and jumped right into our car. One of the best days of my life.

She's in doggie heaven, but we shared so many great memories together. This was her running up and down the beach in Flagler County, Florida where we stayed a couple of nights at a pet friendly hotel.

 

[VancouverIslandDisney]

My fiance and I had recently lost our little blind Maltese Flow, and our 15 year old Cocker Spaniel Bobbie was dealing with health issues.

We had recently started the conversation about getting another dog before Bobbie passed and were thinking of another English Cocker. During meditation one morning it came to us to reach out to a friend that breeds Australian Shepherds so we called her as soon as we came out of meditation and asked when she planned on having another litter. This was mid-May, she told us the 15th of June the next litter of Mini-Aussies was due.

We told her if there was a male available in the litter we would like him. We discussed names in the hopes it would work out and we decided on “Solo” (not Star Wars but just one of a kind). On the 17th of June (my moms birthday) they call and let us know there were 6 pups, and only 1 boy. Since everyone else wanted females we were able to get SOLO.


This is our zoo now (Solo is 3 1/2, Luna and Piper are 8 and 4 respectively).

 

[NannyBeBe]

I started adopting Yorkies over 40 years ago when I visited a friend who had a Yorkie and fell in love. I started with Brussels Griffons after my husband watched As Good As It Gets and decided we should get a Griffon.

 

[Neapolitan Ice Cream]

A recurring theme… Charlie decided to undo my brother's shoe laces. Once he did that, he came over all coy, as if to say, "Who, me?!"