“I grew up with a lot of pets,” Steve told The Dodo.  “Both my parents were animal lovers and they pretty much always let me have whatever I wanted as long as I could take care of it.”

So he’s always had a handful of dogs, but the death of one in particular really struck him hard.

“I was just so distraught about [that death],” he said. “A month or two went by and I still felt so horrible about it. I decided that the only way I would feel better was if something good happened that probably wouldn’t have happened if he had not died.”

He decided to go to the shelter and adopt the dog that was the least likely to ever have anyone give it a home before it died.

“So [I adopted] a 12-year-old Chihuahua [named Eeyore] with a heart murmur and four bad knees and I brought him home and that was just the beginning of all the animals.”

Every day Steve gets up at 5 am to prepare breakfast for each animal. They all have unique diets and some take medication, so they require individual care. He goes to work, but returns at lunch to give them treats. On the weekends, they are busy with grooming and vet appointments.

Despite it being like a canine convalescent home, life is never boring in this house. In addition to the dogs, over the years he has had cats, ducks, pigeons, chickens, a rabbit, a pig, and a pond full of koi. The pig, Bikini, is best friends with Irish wolfhound, Enoch. And his chicken, Oprah, loves to ride the Roomba around the house.

“[The] rabbit, someone just left him in my front yard is how I came to get him. I assume someone knew I had lots of animals and thought ‘Yeah, he’ll give him a good home.’ So, I found him in my front yard one morning and I put him in the chicken coop because I wasn’t sure what to do with him.”

It was all just meant to be. Bikini was raised around dogs, and Stuart (the bunny) is fearless and gets along with everyone. Of course, it probably helps that all the dogs are old and spend most of their time snoozing.

“They’re just wiser animals,” he explained. “You kind of know what you want out of life once you become a certain age. These dogs know who they are and it’s easy to develop a relationship with a person or pet who knows who they are.”

Steve says he’d never be able to live this way with this many puppies. The seniors are all low-energy, and make like very chill and rewarding.

“Like right now, I’m outside on my patio and it’s a beautiful day. Bikini’s laying in the yard and the dogs are all laying around the yard. They just makes it feel like home. It’s just fulfilling knowing that these guys are happy and loved and well-taken care of. It makes my days worthwhile.”

This is just the tip of the iceberg! To see more insanely adorable photos of this awesome brood, follow Steve on Instagram.

The post Man Is Addicted to Adopting Senior Animals No One Else Wants appeared first on ILoveDogsAndPuppies.

A golden retriever named Cinnamon wandered onto a frozen pond in Golden, Colorado and quickly became submerged.  Thankfully, a sheriff’s deputy was around to see what had happened, and jumped into the water and saved her life.

Deputy Billy Brooks saw the dog struggling to stay afloat in the icy pond.  He grabbed a rescue rope and had a passerby hold the other end.  He secured the rope around himself and broke his way through the ice.  Cinnamon was already under the water.

Brooks got himself to the spot where he had last seen Cinnamon, and found himself chest deep in the frigid water.  He held onto a large chunk of ice, and reached around under the water to find her.

The post Sheriff’s Deputy Leaps into Frozen Pond to Save Unconscious Dog appeared first on ILoveDogsAndPuppies.

The Eagle County Animal Shelter and Services crew found out about the traffic accident, and immediately jumped in to help out.  They set up and coordinated housing, and have provided food and any necessary medical treatment for the dogs.  They are also willing to put them up until another truck can arrive, and they can once again be on their way.

The dogs were taken to the Eagle Fairgrounds’ Eagle Ricer Center, and there’s about 100 volunteers helping to care for them.  They have brought donations of food and blankets, and are taking dogs for walks, and keeping them entertained while they wait.  Many other residents of Eagle County have also brought toys and food, just to be sure that no one is going without.

“The response was unbelievable when we put up a brief Facebook post asking for folks to come help,” said Daniel Ettinger, manager of Eagle County Animal Shelter and Services.  “We actually had a line out the door of people that wanted to come walk or clean.  It was just unbelievable.”

Just because the dogs have been sidelined in Colorado for a bit doesn’t mean the rescue team nor is the shelter’s staff wasting any time.  Some of the dogs are being adopted out right through the fairgrounds.  At this point, there are only two of the 16 dogs left behind by Tall Tails waiting for a forever home.  The other 84 are back on their way to Seattle in a cushy, heated horse trailer.

“We were moving them out of Texas because they have a higher rate of euthanasia there,” said Ettinger. “Places up in Seattle don’t have that problem, so we wanted to get them where they could be adopted quickly.”

The dogs did eventually reach their destination Saturday afternoon.

The post Colorado Shelter Gets Adoptions for Dogs Stranded by Collison appeared first on ILoveDogsAndPuppies.

But of all the animals they’ve helped find forever homes, this pup made the biggest mark on volunteers and staff members’ hearts. Found abandoned in Glenwood Springs, the cutie was full of personality but mysteriously unable to use his hind legs.
Vets ran tests that came up short in figuring out what was paralyzing the pup, now going by Ernie.

hey couldn’t find any evidence of a slipped disc or other issue, but that didn’t stop the crew from doing their best to build up his strength.

They tried physical therapy, acupuncture, and other methods, without much result, but he was finally becoming well enough to find a forever home.

Like many animals with special needs, it took a bit longer than usual for someone to step up to take Ernie into their care.

Then one day, a woman named Susi Cooley came to visit the shelter and decided to take the special boy home with her. There was just one problem: she was about to leave for vacation.

She told the shelter if he was still there when she got back, she would return for Ernie.

To her surprise, he was still at the shelter when she came home — and even more surprising, he didn’t need his wheelchair anymore.

While waiting for Cooley’s return, the employees were stunned to see Ernie suddenly start walking all on his own.

The paralysis remains a mystery, but it seems like the pup just needed an extra dash of hope to bounce back. And whatever the cause, both Ernie and his new family couldn’t be more thrilled to have the healthy dog in their home.

The post They Didn’t Think He’d Walk Again, But Then This Dog Broke All The Rules appeared first on ILoveDogsAndPuppies.

After the dog was rescued it was taken to Lake Arbor Vet Hospital and rescuers learned the dog’s name was Sophie.

According to her owners, Sophie wandered off their property and stepped onto the icy lake falling through the thin ice. However, the pet owners never imagined their dog would ever get in such dangerous situation because they say she is a “scary cat” and is afraid of everything. They never thought she would wander away from home let alone step onto a partially frozen lake.

Fortunately, this story has a happy ending and Sophie is safe and sound. Her owners will be keeping a closer eye on her.

Watch her rescue video below.

[youtube id=”eITp1bnnfAI”]

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