Remember the feeling? The un fillable emptiness that exists when all life needs at that point in time is a dog.
We had discussed taking on the responsibility of a dog since we’d moved in together. We had also received many different forms of “advice” that seemed more like opinions.
“Don’t adopt from a shelter, damaged goods”
We wanted a lighter shedding dog that could also be trained to go out and hunt. “A mut will never fetch a bird,” “Shelter dogs are always sick,” “a rescue dog comes from someone else, you’ll never be able to train it”. Lots of noise in an already empty space.
It was always decided from day one, no way would we ever support the idea of purchasing a dog just to purchase it. How can you buy a creature thats been bred out of selfishness when hundreds go unloved everyday. Our new family member would HAVE to be a rescue.
Yet the day we visited the shelter we were only there to look.
We walked down loud hallways filled with loving hearts and sad eyes. Kennel upon kennel of cold concrete floors and companions whose stories would go forever unknown. The perspective was heart shattering.
He wasn’t at all what we had planned for. Not at all the dog we had pictured. We left that day with a 24 hour hold on a heart melting 7 month soul in need. The next morning B came home with a borrowed kennel and just like that our lives were enriched beyond our wildest hopes.
Gunner was a mere 40 lbs and scared to go up the single front porch step when he came home. The name he was filed under was Sir Arthur of Camelot, because with so many animals in and out it gets hard actually naming them with real names explained a volunteer. Imagine being counted out and abandoned to the point that you are nameless.
Gunner is now an 80 lb dog that thinks he is a small child and loves with a fearlessness that makes you question any bond you thought was real.
He is the most well trained and mindful pet around, anywhere we go. Gunner learned to canoe with us on his first weekend home and since then enjoys going on backpacking trips, sleeping in tents, walks off leash, does yoga, kayaks, paddle boards, and has even been suspended on a climbing rope! His trust and loyalty to us, his humans, is unfathomable and inspiring. Gunner is the most empathic creature our hearts have ever known and amidst the compliments and the abilities he is graced with you would never know he spent time shoved on a bus with hundreds of other furry souls just looking to be loved.
There are ways to change the world. There are creatures of all shapes, sizes, and breeds who can prove it to you. It would take us days to share the reasons why Gunner has made this life so lovely, but instead of mere story telling we invite you to find out for yourself.
Adopt don’t shop.