Gotcha Day!: Adoption Tales of Remarkable Rescue Dogs

By Greg Murray

Adorable, candid photographs and the inspiring stories of over 60 rescue dogs and the humans who gave them their forever homes.

Meet Killian who is obsessed with clothes and just has to find the right outfit each morning; Jet who snores louder than a human; and Roger, who came to his family from a puppy mill and learned that people can be kind and loving.

Gotcha Day! spotlights the adoption tales of over 60 adorable rescue dogs and their new forever families. The unique personality of each pup shines through the candid photos by animal advocate and photographer Greg Murray, and their humans let us in on their inspiring stories, funny quirks, and all the many things that make them special.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gibbs Smith
• Release date: Sep 26, 2023
• ISBN: 9781423655282

Greg Murray

Greg Murray is an award-winning animal photographer and rescue and pit bull advocate. His first book, Peanut Butter Dogs, is a rollicking portrait collection of more than 140 dogs, many of them pit bulls, enjoying peanut butter. His work has been featured in Huffington Post, Today, Daily Mail, Elle, People, and other media outlets throughout the world. He lives near Cleveland, Ohio, with his wife, Kristen, and two rescue dogs, Leo and Kensie.

Book preview

Gotcha-Day-Cover.jpg

Gotcha Day!

Adoption Tales of Remarkable Rescue Dogs

Photographs by Greg Murray

Foreword by Doug Trattnor

Gibbs Smith logo.Photo of Ritter.

Digital Edition 1.0

Photographs © 2023 Greg Murray

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any means whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except brief portions quoted for purpose of review.

Published by

Gibbs Smith

P.O. Box 667

Layton, Utah 84041

1.800.835.4993 orders

www.gibbs-smith.com

Cover design: Ryan Thomann

Art director: Ryan Thomann

Editor: Gleni Bartels

Production editor: Sue Collier

Production manager: Felix Gregorio

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023935351

ISBN: 978-1-4236-5528-2

Photo of Hippo.

To the rescue volunteers and staff who work tirelessly to save the lives of animals around the world, and to the people who choose to give forever homes to the animals who need them the most

Contents

Photo of Oscar Wilde.

Foreword

Introduction

Killian

Waffles

Grimly Fiendish

Jet

Momma

Gertie

Roger

Peaches

Edith Ann

Trinket

Selena

Ursula

Luna

Astrid

Nugget

Lloyd

Brownie

Maisy

Molly

June

Otis

Augie

Mr. Wendal

Jordan

Dante

Bailey

Remy

Mork

Rowlie

Rosey

Arch

Pretzel

Leo

Ritter

Derpy

Scruffy

Tilly

Freya

Peter

Billie

Samson

Pepper

Daisy

Ember

Rubi

Hippo

Holly

Floyd

Blue

Maverick

Walter

Beatrix

Oscar Wilde

Norman

Niki

Linus

Tizzy

Elwood

Bizzie

Mowgli

Moose

Lola

Gigi

Zoëlla

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Photo of Tizzy with Doug Trattner.

Foreword

By Doug Trattner, Cleveland-based author, writer, and editor

When Tizzy came into our lives, my wife, Kim, and I were not looking to adopt a new pet. We were still mourning the loss of our beloved rescue dogs who had passed away within weeks of each other. But these days, thanks to social media, you don’t have to travel to an animal shelter to peruse their inventory. We met Tizzy virtually, from the comfort of our own living room, when she popped up on Greg Murray’s Instagram account. As followers and fans of Greg’s photography, it was only a matter of time before his picture of a goofy brindle bully showed up on our phone screens.

Tizzy’s story starts predictably enough for a rescue: She and her sister, Tinker, survived as strays for months before landing at a high-kill dog shelter in southern Ohio. The big-hearted volunteers at Fido’s Companion, a foster-based rescue in northeast Ohio, pulled Tizzy and Tinker, and then fostered and trained the dogs for months to increase their odds of finding their forever homes. Tinker was quickly adopted, but poor Tizzy moved from foster to foster for nine months. After seeing Greg’s post, we arranged a visit with Fido’s Companion and drove across town to meet her. She hopped right into Kim’s lap for some attention, and it was clear that our next dog had found us.

By the time we met Tizzy, she was housebroken, crate-trained, and socialized. But that doesn’t mean she came without challenges. Her high prey drive and desire to be dominant transformed her from the silly snuggle bug she is with us to a high-strung terrier whenever guests arrived. To address those issues, we worked with a professional dog trainer, who gave us the techniques and tools to deal with her fear and anxiety issues. Now when guests show up, Tizzy is calm, confident, and happy.

She joined the family almost four years ago, and we simply can’t imagine life without her. We’ve had many rescue dogs over the years and loved them all, but Tizzy’s giant heart and bigger personality outshine them all. Her goofy antics, piggie snorts, and boundless energy add joy and humor to every day. It breaks our hearts to think that she literally was days from being put to sleep.

Since we adopted her, Tizzy has gone swimming in Northern Michigan, dined al fresco in Maine, hiked in the Allegheny National Forest, and sunned her pink belly on the shores of the Finger Lakes. Having her by our side while exploring, cooking dinner over the fire, or spending time inside during a rainstorm makes all our camping trips better.

Every now and then, one of the amazing people at Fido’s Companion will see Tizzy living her best life on Instagram and leave a comment. We can only imagine how much it must mean to them to see how their patience and devotion to a rescue dog have changed her life. But we know too well that Tizzy is the exception. Despite being characteristically bright, loyal, affectionate, and gentle, bully breeds are unfairly discriminated against, thanks to decades of misrepresentation in the media. As a result, almost half of them don’t make it out of shelters alive. In real life and on social media, we share our days and nights with Tizzy with the hope of changing those depressing odds of survival, if even by a tiny bit. Rescue dogs are no different from high-priced designer dogs—in both cases, you get out what you put in. But the satisfaction that comes from knowing you saved a life makes the experience that much more rewarding.

Photo of Leo and Kensie.

Our rescue dogs, Leo (left) and Kensie (right)

Introduction

Photo of Muffit and the very young Greg Murray in a laundry basket.

I was introduced to Muffit the rescue dog the day I came home from the hospital after entering this world in 1981. She had been adopted by my parents from the Cleveland Animal Protective League as a puppy two years before. I have vivid memories of spending time with Muffit as a child. We were best friends. As a baby I even enjoyed spending time with her in her crate and in laundry baskets.

I grew up around animals, which bred a lifelong affection for all kinds of critters, and I’m thankful to get to work with them daily. Besides Muffit, at one time or another, my family had fish, lizards, birds, guinea pigs, cats, rats, and more—and while I love all animals, regardless of where they came from, I do have a favorite kind: rescued. I don’t think I fully appreciated the importance of animal rescues until I started volunteering as a photographer at the Cleveland Animal Protective