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.

While the exact source of the abuse remains a mystery, the toll it took on the poor pup was evident. Gina Heatherington, founder and CEO of PAWS Animal Rescue Ireland, said to ABC News:

 “She was picked up on the street…She sat in the corner and hid her head and she just wouldn’t move for anybody. Whatever trauma happened to her, [I thought] ‘What did they do to her to make her like that?’ Never had I seen a dog that was traumatized that much, mentally.”

When Dubliner Michael McGrath saw the video, it tugged at his heartstrings, and he knew he wanted to give Angel a second chance. Said McGrath in the ABC News article:

“I saw the original video and we just had to have her…I said, ‘We can really give her a good life and make a difference.’”

On January 30th, PAWS posted a new video of Angel–now named Cara–on their Facebook page. But this time, she looks much different! Once a pup that was scared silent, one-year-old Cara is now quite the conversationalist with new sibling Jago, who was also a rescue.

Noted McGrath to ABC News:

She was very scared, but has really come on well. I think she was young enough to be able to block out what happened. She’s afraid of other dogs outside, but she has the security of her home. She’s a great little character and it just broke our hearts when we saw the video.”

This new video, however, must make Cara’s new owners smile (we know we did!). Looks like she’s fitting in nicely!

The post Traumatized Dog Once Stood Silently In A Corner…Now, She Can’t Stop Talking! appeared first on ILoveDogsAndPuppies.