25 Tails From The Rescue: 25 Dogs, 25 Stories and a Plea For Rescue Awareness

By Sophia Langley

How Could Someone Even Think Of Doing That To Teddy?

I am the matriarch of a family of six: myself, my husband, a 14 year old son, a 12 year old daughter, a 4 year old Coton de Tuléar and a 6 year old Shih Tzu. On any given day if you ask me who my favorite member of the family is, depending on raging teenage hormones and the occasional marital spat, the answer may very well be Teddy the Shih Tzu. Ironically, he is also the only one of the group that came within hours of being euthanized.

25 Tails From The Rescue: 25 Dogs, 25 Stories and a Plea For Rescue Awareness

This book was written to share the stories of fulfillment that come from rescuing a dog. Dogs are smart – I don’t know how they know, but they do – they know when you take them home from a rescue that you are saving their life. And there is something special about that relationship which will change both of your lives forever!

If You're Considering Dog Ownership, Consider Reaching Out To A Shelter Dog And Change Your Life Forever!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sophia Langley
• Release date: Dec 11, 2016
• ISBN: 9788822876003

Book preview

Conclusion

Introduction

I am the matriarch of a family of six: myself, my husband, a 14 year old son, a 12 year old daughter, a 4 year old Coton de Tuléar and a 6 year old Shih Tzu. On any given day if you ask me who my favorite member of the family is, depending on raging teenage hormones and the occasional marital spat, the answer may very well be Teddy the Shih Tzu. Ironically, he is also the only one of the group that came within hours of being euthanized.

When we bought our first dog we actually reached out to a couple of rescue dog groups inquiring about dogs we had seen posted on the internet. Those first couple of inquiries were immediately met with Do you have kids? That dog is not good with kids. Unfortunately that gave my husband and I the impression that most rescue dogs were there for a reason – they were probably aggressive or otherwise dangerous for children, so we opted for a breeder.

I’m so glad we gave rescue a second chance on our next trip into dog ownership. Ironically, purchasing our first dog from a breeder led to nothing but behavior problems. In retrospect it’s surprising that we ventured back into dog ownership at all. The fact that we ventured back into it through a dog rescue was a blessing.

It is estimated that about 2.5 million dogs and cats are euthanized in animal shelters in the United States each year, or about one every 13 seconds. There are roughly 85 million pet dogs in the U.S., only 20% of which were obtained from rescue groups.

This book was written to share the stories of fulfillment that come from rescuing a dog – 25 stories from the owners or rescue groups that saved them. Dogs are smart – I don’t know how they know, but they do – they know when you take them home from a rescue that you are saving their life. And there is something special about the relationship which is born from that which will change both of your lives forever!

Chapter 1 – Teddy

Our family ventured into dog ownership along the same path that many excited families do. My husband and I had talked for quite a while about when we would be ready to add a dog to our family.  With a 10 year old son and an 8 year old daughter, we thought the time was right for our children to be responsible enough to understand