Cooper's Little Sister

Ben and I had been married for about four months.  We had moved into our new place in North Carolina and settled in to our new routine.  Ben was loving his normal schedule at his new command and I had finally found a job.  Cooper was settled in to our new place as well.  This was his fourth move since I adopted him so he is a pro at adjusting.  As long as he is with us, he is a happy brown dog.  It was now time for Cooper to make one more adjustment:  a sibling.

It was September 30, 2011.  Ben and I had finally decided to get our second four legged baby!  Oh I was so excited I just couldn't contain myself.  We were going to save another life and give that dog a second chance at life.  We were 100% sure we were going to adopt.  Other than that decision, we had no idea what type of dog we wanted.  We were just going to see which dog picked us...and oh she certainly did!

We packed up Cooper and went to the local SPCA of Northeastern North Carolina.  We took Coop so we could make sure he would get along with his prospective sibling.  (Don't worry...we called and got permission first to bring him!)  We pulled up to the SPCA and saw all of the dogs in the pens.  I couldn't help but smile.  Somewhere in there was our new baby!

The three of us got out of the car and headed toward the office.  One of the volunteers saw us coming and asked if we were surrendering.  Oh NO!! We came to adopt!!  We just wanted to make sure our dog got along with our new adoptee.  You could literally see the happiness spread across this man's face.  The volunteers and workers at this shelter love the animals so much!  It is a great thing to see so many wonderful people helping animals.

We walk into the office and talk to the ladies at the counter, Hope and Sabrenna.  They were wonderful!  We told them we had no idea what we were looking for, but that we just wanted to look around.  The shelter manager, John, (who is also awesome!) took us for a guided tour of the dogs. 

The ladies at the desk kept Cooper with them while we went on our tour of the dogs.  As we walked around, Ben and I commented on which dogs we thought were cute and I made a note of about ten names on piece of paper.  We then headed back to the front desk where we went through our list of names.  One of the many wonderful things about adopting is that the people at the shelter or rescue group get to know their dogs and can guide you towards a dog with a personality that will fit in with your lifestyle. Some of the dogs we thought were cute ended up not being a great energy level fit for us or Coop, who is a pretty mellow lab.

The first dog Ben and I both liked and wanted to meet was a hound named June.  We both had commented on how cute she was lounging like a sweet little girl.  We asked the ladies if Cooper could meet June to see how they got along.  They took us to the side of the building to a run where the dogs could be off leash and greet each other.  June was super cute!  She was so excited to meet Ben and me, but Cooper was too interested in the new smells to act one way or another.  We thought she was cute, but wanted to meet some other dogs to see if Cooper took to another one any differently.

The ladies brought us another small hound mix to meet.  Cooper wasn't such a fan of him.  He had a bit too much energy I think.  So we decided to meet dog number three.  Then all of a sudden, June came running over to our area and pounced on the fence!  She had escaped her pen and came back to us!  She was practically yelling at us, "ME! Pick ME! Look how adorable I am!"  Oh that made my heart melt!

Ben and I took that as a sign and ended up picking June.  She was adorable and Cooper seemed to like her just fine.  We headed back to the office to fill out the paperwork.  They suggested we foster her at first to make sure she blended well with Cooper and our family before adopting her for good.  We filled out the paperwork while June got her microchip and some heart worm medicine.  We picked out a purple collar for her and hooked her up to her new leash.  Now it was time to go home!  Home to get to know our new little girl.  What a wonderful feeling! 

As you can imagine, we decided to make June officially ours within the same day.  She was sweet and wonderful.  Badly behaved at times, but wonderful just the same!  I headed back to the shelter with her a couple of days later to officially adopt her! 

The staff at the shelter had filled us in on June's background.  She had been at the shelter for nine months.  Almost a whole year!  And since she was estimated to be three at the time, that means she had two years before the shelter took her in.  She was found as a stray and taken to the shelter by a man.  They believe she was a hunting dog that wouldn't hunt, so she was abandoned.  My poor sweet girl didn't have the best start in life, but I guarantee you that the rest of her life will be filled with love, happiness, and lots of snuggles!

We were thanked for considering a hound as a family pet.  Why wouldn't we?  They are so sweet and full of love.  They are truly great pets.  The staff at the shelter informed us that if dogs need to be put down for space, they go by breed after aggressive or ill dogs.  Hounds unfortunately are usually the first to go since there are so many.  We were truly glad to be able to go outside of the doggy box and take home a hound.  June is a life we are very grateful to have saved.

And so begins our next adventure!  June the foxhound!  We love our little girl so much.  Ben and I couldn't imagine life without her.  Please take the time to consider adopting outside of the box.  You never know who your next best friend might be! 

Thanks for stopping by!

-Laura