I am getting ready to leave my little pup for the longest time I have been away from him in the past 5 years. Being separated is always traumatic for both of us so I wanted to shed some light on why by telling you guys his story. And with any luck, I am hoping this helps someone decide to #adoptnotshop. Let’s get started!
I had a messy, tough breakup in my early 20s, right out of college. I was moving to Dallas for a fresh start in a new city. It had been 6 months or so since I got my heart crushed… So you could say Rhett was a “break up dog”… He was a much needed distraction and provider of unconditional love! What else do you need when you’re trying to get over someone?
But in all seriousness, I had been wanting a dog for a few years and the timing felt right. I set up a “saved search” on Adopt a Pet – basically you can have them email you every time a pup (or kitty/bird/etc!) comes into the shelter that fits your needs. For example, for me, I wanted a German Shepherd mix who was a puppy, within 50 miles of Dallas. Didn’t care on gender. I got a lot of emails with dogs that matched that description but when they emailed me a photo of Rhett I just KNEW. I thought it was so cool that he had that silvery-grey tonality to his coat and was just the most handsome boy I could imagine & he checked all my boxes! I was smitten. So I got him some bowls, a leash, a collar, a bed, about 55 lbs of puppy food, and planned a day to drive out to Mexia, TX to pick up my little man.
I was SO focused on having this blanket/towel, leash, adoption papers, and being the best mom ever that guess what I forgot? MY WALLET. I got about ¾ of the way to Mexia and ran out of gas. I pulled over at a little country gas station, realized I didn’t have my wallet, and proceeded to PANIC. I obviously started questioning whether I was responsible enough to be a dog mom…. But then I remembered, a few months before, I had put a HUGE gallon bag of change in my console so that I could hand it out to the homeless standing around the highway. This is something called KARMA guys! That bag of change totally saved me. I walked into the gas station, embarrassed, with my huge bag of change. And the guy inside gave me a BIG Texas smile and said, “WE COUNTIN’?!” I laughed, so relieved and I had about a tank’s worth of change in that bag. It got me to my pup & back.
It was a rainy day and as I pulled up to the country shelter, my car got completely covered in mud. When I got to the office, the woman was super busy and having an emotional day. She explained to me that she just had more dogs than she could really handle at the shelter. It was overloaded. But luckily she had a big pasture for older dogs that they could roam freely in. She walked me back to the big cages where Rhett was. When She opened the gate, they all came rushing out. All except little Rhett. He stayed in there, huddled in the corner just terrified of EVERYTHING. She said, “THAT’S the one you want?!” And I remember thinking… There’s NO WAY I am leaving without him, I can’t let him stay here one more minute longer than he has to.
That image of him huddled in the corner will haunt me forever, and I think it’s why I sometimes still have trouble disciplining the little guy. He had a really tough start to his life.
When we got to the paper work, the lady said she was required to let me know his history.
He and his 5 siblings had been abandoned to die in a cardboard box, out by the lake. The person who found them said they were crawling around in their own waste in the box and they were all emaciated, nearing death. The woman told me that given his age, he likely was not abused himself but witnessed the abuse of his parents because he was distinctly afraid of humans. Hearing all of this I was shaking as she handed me a piece of paper and it had the address on it where they found him. Seeing this address just made it all so real. I still have that address tucked away in my filing cabinet. I think about it a lot still to this day.
But I try to remind myself that even though the person who abandoned Rhett exists, so does the person who saved him by bringing the puppies to that shelter. If it wasn’t for that person, I wouldn’t have met my best friend. I am tearing up just typing this! He didn’t deserve anything that happened to him, so it’s been my mission ever since adopting him to give him the best, happiest life possible.
Rhett lived in a corner in my apartment for the first month I had him. In that same first month he also DOVE under a giant truck to hide while we were on an early morning walk right outside my apartment… I was in a fluffy pink robe with nothing under it and COULDN’T get him to come out. I finally had to crawl under the truck to get him and got my robe COVERED in greasy black oil in the process! He then transitioned to hiding under the bed any time I wasn’t at the apartment. But eventually, I was able to get him his own small backyard space in Dallas and then a HUGE backyard to play in here at our house. When I did his genealogy, I found out he is German shepherd, blue heeler, and “wild dog” which we have sense ID’d as “Carolina dog.” We think that his shyness might be associated with that heritage and definitely his tendency to party all night and sleep all day. His favorite thing right now is terrorizing the squirrels in our neighborhood and a raw hide at night while we sleep. We typically sleep with me in the middle and the boys on either side of me, snuggled in close.
But my very favorite memories of Rhett are from watching him fall in love with Deven, while I was falling in love with Deven.
Being a little boy dog, Rhett always loved to try to get me to rough house with him…. But let’s face it, he was bigger and stronger than me so it wasn’t much of a match! Now Deven, for those who don’t know, is 6”5 and built like a football player! The first time they met, Rhett wouldn’t even take bacon out of Deven’s hand but once Rhett finally warmed up to him enough to play with him a little…. He realized he finally had a worthy opponent! Those two are more in love than anyone I know. They get in little lover’s spats where one will ice the other out for a good hour or so and then makeup with a belly rub or wrestling on the bed. Rhett will always want his mama when he’s scared (aka – ANY time we leave the house) but on the day to day, he’s a totally Daddy’s boy.
Rhett has been the sweetest partner in crime and really grounded me in a way I had never experienced before him. We do a roast chicken or burger on his birthday every year in March; we snuggle in the winter and watch the lightning bugs in the summer. Getting him out of his shell has brought me a joy I will never be able to put into words. After loving him for over 5 years, I think he will always be scared when he encounters a human or really even leaves our house BUT he has a happy home here where he is safe, loved, and valued for exactly how he is.
Anyway! That’s little R’s story. He loves waking up early with me and that’s what we did today. I am trying to maximize our time together before Deven and I take off for our wedding and then honeymoon. It’ll be the longest we’ve been away from him ever and although I can’t wait for this experience, I miss him already. My heart will always hurt a little when we’re apart. I can almost feel him wondering if we’ve abandoned him…. But what I hope he knows is that I could never leave him behind because he will literally always be with me in my heart for the rest of my life, no matter where I am.
Ps- if you want to see lots of pics/videos of Rhett, head to my instagram page and watch the highlight “Rhett!”
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FIND THE LOVE OF YOUR LIFE HERE!! #adoptdontshop