October is Adopt a Shelter Dog Month

I will always remember the day as one of the best days of my life. The phone rang and it was Deter at the Little Traverse Bay Humane Society.  She knew I was a Boston Terrier kind of person and needed assistance with a young Boston at the shelter. He was having some stress issues and needed a foster home. She asked if I might be able foster him. Her thought was my two Bostons might be a security blanket for him.  I immediately agreed and ran over to the shelter to pick him up.
His name was Baxter. He was sweet as pie and just needed some stability. So in the car he went. After a couple of weeks of adjusting, he was right at home. Most of his issues had passed and my older female adopted him as her boy. For all of us, it was love at first sight.
Deter again reached out to see how he was doing and if I was planning on bringing him back to the shelter now that he was healthy again. My answer was no… I was going down as a foster fail. She just laughed and said “I knew that would happen.”
And that is how Baxter came into my life. 13 years later, he’s still my best buddy.
Your best buddy is waiting for you too at a shelter near you. Most dogs that end up in shelters are there because a human failed them. Not because they are bad dogs. But because someone moved and didn’t make them a priority, or someone had a baby and couldn’t be bothered any longer or they are now just too busy to deal with a dog. Shelter dogs are not broken dogs. They are simply dogs that missed finding the right home the first time.
So before you think that you have to buy a puppy, stop by your local shelter. Go to PetFinder.com and see all the dogs available in your state. And be a hero to a dog that will give you the kind of pleasure Baxter has brought to my life. You will not be sorry.