After graduating from college during the recession, I was bored and unemployed, so when my mom said she wanted to go to the shelter to look at dogs, I decided to join her. I of course fell in love with every puppy in the place, but little did I know that my mom had actually had a specific dog in mind that she wanted to meet. When I joined her in the courtyard of the shelter, I looked over to see this tiny brown Terrier/Chihuahua mix straining on the end of its leash to get to us. As soon as she got to me, she immediately peed all over the ground and my shoe. Right then I knew it was love.
When I asked the shelter worker what her name was, I was baffled. It wasn't until I heard the dog's excited bark/scream that I realized her name, Ankylosaurus, was fitting, as she sounded how I would imagine a dinosaur would. Turns out she was one of a big litter who were all named after different dinosaurs.
We left the shelter that day without her; I don't think we were prepared to bring home another dog with two rescue dogs already at home. However, I could not get this cute, weird-sounding dog out of my head, and dreamt about her all night. The next day I made a deal with my dad that she would be my dog and I would take all responsibility for her, as the thought of having 3 dogs was not appealing to him. That afternoon we went back to the shelter and brought one of our dogs with us so they could meet to make sure they would get along. We got there only to realize that someone else was interested in her, and I immediately started crying at the thought of not taking her home. I think this person saw my tears and took pity, ultimately deciding to take home a different dog!
Needless to say, we took her home that same day and renamed her Zoe. Zoe and our other rescue dog (also a Terrier/Chihuahua mix) are now BFF, and Zoe's been a happy member of our family for 10 years now.
PLEASE consider adopting a shelter animal!
DANVILLE, CA
