His story comes from The Animal Rescue Site, which in addition to featuring fan-submitted rescue stories, offers a wide selection of clothing, décor, pet supplies and other gifts.  For each purchase made, a food donation is given to shelter pets in need.  Now is the perfect time to shop!

This story has been edited only for clarity.

Meet Capt. Jack. As a puppy – beyond adorable. I knew he was our next dog. As most rescue stories start, it wasn’t a happy one. He was dumped on a cold country road at night in Dec., six-eight weeks old. The country vet, whose wife happened to be hubby’s high school classmate, took him in. She posted pictures, hoping to find his forever home. Hubby saw the pics and I cajoled that we could foster. He agreed to foster, but I knew we were his forever home and the “fostering” was a ruse. We went to meet Capt. With our other rescue pup, Chloe, whose start was just as rough.

Chloe and Capt. were BFFs instantly. Loading Capt. in the car, my husband realized this was forever, not foster. The vet’s wife, thrilled he was ours, she saw red flags with him and was she right! We had challenges galore. Capt. was very different from our five previous rescues. He was scared of men, the dark, strangers, and the vet. He has fear aggression. He’s curious about everything and afraid of it all. He lunges at people and tries to nip. He bullies around the house and terrorizes our two cats. Mortal enemies are critters, he chases and on occasion catches.

He’s expensive with double knee surgeries. He ripped his toenails so badly, needed a vet visit to stop the bleeding, snip and wrap foot. He’s on Prozac. He’s doped for vet appointments. He has incredibly stinky gas. He can’t handle temperature extremes.  He lays on air conditioning and in front of furnace wall vents. He survived the great “Christmas Tree Massacre of 2012.”  He pulled glass bulbs off the tree and chewed them, and littered the room with glass shards.

He hates delivery people.  His battle with the neighbor’s cat ended in defeat and left Capt. a bloody mess.  He’s cute but not cuddly, a terrible combo. People always want to pet him. He’s not the brightest bulb on the tree, but he sure is the cutest. Cute can get you far.

On top of all that and his many other quirks, we love him fiercely. Our vet has said time and again, Capt. Jack is lucky to have us. Most other people would have given up and likely euthanized him. Capt. Jack, long may he reign!

The post Puppy Abandoned on a Country Road in Winter Is the Cutest Little Monster His Family Could Love appeared first on ILoveDogsAndPuppies.

“We started working with Project Street Dog Thailand back in May,” Cindy Szczudlo, senior manager of rescue services at North Shore Animal League America, told The Dodo. “Beautiful little Gidget was one of our recent rescues who we brought in a couple weeks ago.”

Who knows what kind of life she had, but as a street dog, it likely wasn’t a very pleasant one.  However, she’s absolutely full of joy now, and loves meeting new people and animals. “She’s so affectionate, sweet and friendly,” Szczudlo said. “She loved playing with the cats in my office. She just has an amazing personality.” Beth Stern, who works with North Shore, is friends with NPH and Burtka, so when they mentioned to her that they were looking to adopt, she had just the pup in mind.

The guys and their six-year-old twins, Harper and Gideon, look like they’re already madly in love with this lil chica.

Though this has nothing to do with dogs, I came across a photo on Burtka’s Instagram page of his family on Halloween, and one of his followers said they had been looking forward to seeing this photo all month – the family must really go all out for Halloween.  So I did a couple of searches and found the rest of their costumes, and man are they adorable!  Hopefully next year Gidget will be included.  I can’t wait to see what they do!

The post Neil Patrick Harris’ Family Has Adopted a Street Dog from Thailand appeared first on ILoveDogsAndPuppies.

Amanda Herring and Greg Selz met when they were in middle school, but neither could have anticipated that they would be a happily married family years later.

“We were friends, never dated,” Amanda told The Dodo. “I would have said you were crazy if you told me I’d be married living with Greg Selz 14 years later, and we’d have an old dog.”

They went their separate ways after school, but their paths crossed in 2010, and they spent the next two years in a long-distance relationship.  Finally last year they found a place close to where they’d grown up in Washington DC.

“Our first priority was to find an apartment where we could have a dog,” Amanda said.

She found an older chow on the website for the Fairfax County Animal Shelter, but when they went to visit, she had already been adopted.  However, her older sister Brendinie was still there and in need of a home.  She was in need of a bath, and wasn’t interested in visitors.  It would likely take a long time before anyone decided to adopt her.

“She would need a lot of time to get adjusted, wouldn’t do well with kids, and was already probably nine years old.  Our hearts melted.”

Amanda and Greg adopted her and changed her name to Bubbe, which means grandmother in Yiddish.  They knew that the adjustment period would be a challenge, and for the first few days Bubbe wouldn’t eat and she snarled at them when they entered a room.  But the barrier broke down a bit when she took some baby food off of a spoon.

Their relationship grew as they worked on teaching her basic commands:  “She wanted to make us happy, and she was trying so hard,” Amanda explained.

Now that Bubbe understands she’s home, she’s a lot more comfortable.  She wags her tail when she sees mom and dad, and though she still is aloof towards strangers, she loves snuggling and has bonded with Greg’s mom’s dog.

When the couple got engaged and started working on wedding arrangements, they knew they wanted Bubbe to partake in their special day.  But they understood her wariness of new people, and didn’t want to overwhelm her.

“She was right next to me all morning while I did my makeup, got dressed and got my hair done,” Amanda said.  “We took her out for a walk during dinner.”

She was also in a few photos, which are certainly mantle-worthy.  Having Bubbe isn’t effortless, because she isn’t in the greatest of health and needs vet visits and numerous walks per day, so the couple cannot come and go as they’d like, but they aren’t bothered.

“It sounds like a chore, but it’s actually what makes our lives more meaningful,” Amanda said.  “Before Bubbe, it was just the two of us,” she says. “She’s made the two of us into a family.”

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Dogs are very smart and intelligent in nature although their intelligence varies depending on the breed. They are also quite observant and very little escapes them. This is why it takes your dog just two to three days to master your daily routine and become helpful as quickly as possible.

There is an area where dogs are far better than humans. When it comes to faithfulness and loyalty, dogs are far better than humans and other animals. Your dog will remain faithful to you even when faced with death. In trying times most of your friends will desert you but your dog will never leave you.

So, for some of these reasons, dogs are usually treated as a part of the family. These 19 pictures are proofs of the wonderful qualities of dogs. They will show you why your dog is not just a family, your dog is also your best friend. The pictures speak for themselves as they require little or no explanation for you to understand them.

For example, how would you feel when you get back home to find your baby sleeping comfortably in the hands of your dog? Heartwarming, isn’t it? Is that not a perfect example of a big brother role? Please check the pictures and see things for yourself. They will give you an idea of the inseparable connection between humans and their dogs.

If you have a toddler and a pet dog at home, try to pay more attention to their attitudes towards you. It would not take long before you begin to appreciate the similarities between their attitudes. Apart from that, your pet dog would definitely be your baby’s best friends as his older siblings would have to go to school every day but your dog will give him 24 hours attention. And these pictures prove that.

You may never experience the pleasure of having a dog as your buddy if you don’t get one. If you have never thought of having your own dog, these pictures would definitely make you have a change of heart. You will appreciate the importance of having a dog around. These pictures have shown that dogs are not just animals.

Your dogs can be indispensable members of your family depending on how you treat them. One striking point you will learn from these pictures is that your dog will not affect your life alone, it will also affect the lives of your family members positively. Just go ahead and see all the pictures and behold the importance of having a dog around.

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And, unfortunately, it is one this dog had to experience for five years.

The Humane Society of the United States was helping authorities rescue almost 200 dogs and cats from severe neglect in rural Adams County, Ohio. There were many animals that needed homes and help, but one dog stuck out in particular: a chocolate lab that was chained to the front of the property.

He was tangled in his chain and a deer carcass (which was presumably his only source of food). They scanned him for a microchip and discovered something amazing — his name was Chuckie and his family had been missing him for five long years!

Their love stayed strong over the years!

The post He Was Separated From His Family For Years, But Watch What Happens When They Reunite appeared first on ILoveDogsAndPuppies.

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People might view this video differently and think that he was just chasing the dolphins away but why would he even bother to do that when they were quite a distance away? He’s a friendly dog and likes his dolphin friends that he enjoys and wants to swim with them on a hot summer afternoon.

https://youtu.be/aCIqzXFsdak

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When two-year-old pit bull Bella was found chained up outside in the Florida heat last summer, she weighed a frightening 23 pounds.  Her owner was arrested, and she recovered and was adopted.  On Tuesday her loving family rejoiced when her negligent caretaker was convicted on felony animal cruelty.

Last June, Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control received a tip about badly malnourished, chained-up dog behind a house in Delray Beach.  Officers were told by resident Anthony Herring that “the dog belonged to a friend of a friend named Jay in drug Rehab.”

The man said he’d been watching the dog for over a month, and that she was sick and wasn’t eating, despite his efforts to feed her.  However, upon her surrender, she was examined and it was determined that while indeed, she did have intestinal parasites, she was indubitably able to eat.

“She was near dead. Another two days she would have been dead,” said new mom Crystal Barany.

Poor Bella was so weak she couldn’t even stand.

“I did not allow her to starve,” Herring testified.  “She lost weight.”

He claimed that in the six months he had her, her weight plunged despite his attempts to feed her soft food like grits.  Veterinarians found that Bella had hookworms, but there was absolutely no food in her stomach.

Veterinarian Stephanie Poole said that “there were no issues of her ability to eat,” and noted that Bella doubled her weight in less than two months after being rescued.”

Herring was charged with felony animal cruelty for starving Bella, and misdemeanor unlawful confinement for keeping her tethered.

“Our laws against animal cruelty are on the books to protect those who can’t protect themselves,” State Attorney Dave Aronberg told the jury. “Even though Bella survived, the crimes were committed and the defendant needs to be held accountable for his actions.”

Aronberg typically delegates trial duty to assistant prosecutors, but as he has a rescued Bassett hound, he feels a personal connection with animal abuse cases.

“The defendant took a normal, playful dog and chained her to a fence, deprived her of proper food and water and turned her into a skeleton covered over with bug-infested skin,” he said. “Bella suffered for way too long and miraculously she survived.”

“Sadly, many cases of animal cruelty end in a painful death.  Weak, bug-infested and tied down, Bella was about to become another statistic, until someone cared enough to call Animal Care and Control, who then saved Bella and changed this from a tragic tale to one with a happy ending.”

Bella’s new family didn’t even realize that there was so much hubbub surrounding the case.

“I was shocked, I didn’t know there was that much attention,” Barany said.  “I just thought I was … doing a good deed taking this dog into my home.”

Aronberg’s presence in the case has understandably drawn some attention, which is exactly what he wants.

“We’re going to do everything we can to protect the most vulnerable amongst us, whether it’s children … or animals,” he said.

“It’s important that we set the standard to show this community is going to have zero tolerance for animal abuse.  We’re not going to turn a blind eye to this, we’re not going to look away. We’re going to prosecute this and we’re going to make a statement.”

The trial lasted for three days, and the jury took less than 40 minutes to convict Herring of the charges.

“I was shaking and then when I heard guilty – I got teary-eyed,” said Barany.  “It’s really sad but it’s justice for her and an example set for any other animals abused or neglected, and maybe people will see that we’re taking it seriously,”

She celebrated by buying Bella three new stuffed animals.

“She likes stuffed animals, she likes tennis balls – pretty much anything,” her mom said.

Herring will receive his sentence in August.  Because Bella survived, the maximum sentence he can receive is one year.

“Today Bella is a happy, healthy dog adopted by a loving family,” Aronberg said. “But just because Bella was saved doesn’t mean we give a free pass to the person who took her to the brink of death, chained her to the fence and watched her wilt away.”

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A woman from South Florida has been reunited with her Boston terrier after seven years of separation.  Lola was assumed to have run away from home, and Julie Arango, Lola’s human, didn’t think she’d ever see her dog again.

However, Lola is back home with her family.  According to Linda Gall, a former vet tech, someone was trying to give Lola away on Craigslist.  This person had cared for Lola for the entire seven years she had been missing from her family, but for whatever reason, didn’t want her anymore.

Gall took Lola to a local veterinarian.  That’s when the micro chip embedded in Lola was discovered.  The information on the chip was still valid, and that allowed the vet staff to get in touch with Arango, and Lola could finally go home.

Arango told news outlets that she thought that Lola would never be returned to her family.  As time went by, Arango knew that it was becoming extremely improbable that she’d see her dog again.  After getting the phone call, Arango and her 19-year-old daughter, Celina Papas, drove from their home to Fort Lauderdale, Florida for the reunion.

Lola is finally back home where she belongs.  Arango and her daughter are still amazed and remain very grateful to the people that helped Lola survive for the seven years she was gone.  Remember, it doesn’t usually cost much, if anything at all, it’s always a good idea to keep the information on the chip current.  Sometimes, that’s all anyone has to go on when it comes to simple identification of a missing pet.

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The family has undergone a couple changes over the years, but one thing’s for sure: they’re always adorable.

It’s so clear that these pooches all genuinely care for each other. You can tell that if one of the minis were having trouble reaching a snack on the table, Harlow would lend a paw, and that Indiana and Reese would both gladly venture under the couch to fetch one of Harlow’s missing toys.

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When the little lamb’s real mother wouldn’t take to the baby, an unfortunate occurrence became fortunate again when the owners brought it inside and their black Labrador immediately took to mothering the cutie. It’s just about the most adorable little family you’ll ever see.

No one can deny that there’s already a strong bond between this young family. They were clearly destined to find each other.

The post This Lamb Was Abandoned By Its Mother…But Was Taken In By The Cutest Surrogate appeared first on ILoveDogsAndPuppies.

Sheree and Tara with Monte.

At Life With Dogs, we always tell people “don’t shop – adopt.” But many who want a pet don’t live and breathe this motto the way we and our fans do. When an Australian couple bought a Cavoodle from Pets Family in Melbourne, they were devastated by the horrific condition he developed. The store offered to replace him, but his moms said that a family member can’t be replaced, and now the shop has to pay up.

“He’s not just a pet, we call him our little man,” Tara Mackey told the Herald Sun. “He is part of the family.”

She and Sheree Bolton bought eight-week-old Monte from Pets Family in January 2014. Within a few short weeks, their precious pup developed breathing trouble and began screaming in pain. Vets operated on him, but were unable to pinpoint the disorder.

The manager of the pet shop offered the women a refund or a replacement dog. But that’s not what they wanted, because they adamantly believe “you get a pet for life.”

Eventually little Monte was diagnosed with portosystemic shunt, a congenital condition where blood bypasses the liver and continues to circulate through the body without being filtered and cleaned.

He survived a life-threatening surgery, but will always have lasting effects from the disorder.

A tribunal determined that a refund was not enough, and ordered Pets Family to pay the women $7884.40 for Monte’s medical bills.

“It’s not like a car where you can go and get another one,” explained Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Senior Member Stella Moraitis. “I can’t ignore the fact that when you sell a dog, you sell a member of the family. If a child gets sick you don’t take it back to the hospital, do you?”

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