Why did you "pick" the pet you have?

adding another pet to the family is right for us.

We saw some dogs ...all a similar breed lab/beagles and one beagle/shepherd. Some are light haired, one is dark. We already hav ea nine year old female beagle and two kids under the age of 8.

What made you choose a particular dog / pet. I am confused. I would love to take all four home but of course I can't. It their look? Coloring? temperment?

Message edited 5/9/2016 10:18:40 AM.

Re: Why did you "pick" the pet you have?

Both my cats chose me.
My first was a 5 week old feral kitten who wandered into my yard and rubbed up against my legs, followed me around. I fed him and he came back day after day, always alone. Eventually he wound up being our inside cat. Munchkin was my baby for 13 years until he got sick and I had no choice but to put him down.

My second was adopted from my friend. Every time we were at their house, Bella would snoop around my purse, play with it and eventually would sit in it. The running joke was that she wanted to go home with me.
After a few years, she started to get stressed with the addition of two dogs in the house. My friend asked if I was serious about taking her and of course I said yes.
Bella is 12 now and has been happy to be the center of attention in our home for 4 years.

Re: Why did you "pick" the pet you have?

My first guy chose me.
When I was picking up all of the puppies, he was the one who laid his head on my shoulder and snuggled right away.
He suckered me in and has continued to do so for almost 15 years now.
My second guy was the last one left so he was meant to be ours.

Why did you

my dog chose me as well and I was not looking. I was a volunteer for a rescue group showing her on weekends in the hopes someone who adopt her. The entire time I was showing her she would sit with me, and kept her head in my lap, followed me around etc. Everyone would say, she is only like that with you. I hated seeing her go back to the kennel everytime and decided I would "foster" her, well in 2 hrs she became mine.

Re: Why did you "pick" the pet you have?

We went to the animal shelter with a few basic criteria. We wanted a dog, roughly 40-60 lbs. Big enough to run and play with, but small enough that DW and I could pick them up if we needed to. We preferred a short-haired dog, preferably one with minimal shedding.
Temperament was the primary factor, though. We checked out several dogs at the shelter, but they were all high-energy, very active dogs (not a negative thing for a dog, just not what we were looking for). When we met Zena, everything just clicked. She was very affectionate, very calm, and perfect for our family.
We lucked out that she was about 55lbs, short hair, and a beautiful "tawny blue" as I've decided to call her.... sort of a brown/grey, taupe sort of color, which is a beautiful shade, and I haven't seen many dogs with that color.

Re: Why did you "pick" the pet you have?

I saw him on news 12 and thought he had the best disposition. When we went to the adoption event the next day, he jumped in my truck instantly when he saw us. We knew he would come home with us.

Re: Why did you "pick" the pet you have?

We knew we wanted a dog. We started working with a rescue but it seems all the dogs were adopted before they arrived or we were told we weren't a good match. It was taking too long for me. A friend told me to go out to ARF and look at the dogs. We went and told them what we were looking for. They put us in a room and brought us 5 dogs to look at. My dog did a happy pee when I pet him and I knew he was meant to be mine. My hubby wasn't as sure and neither were the kids lol But I knew. We have had him for almost 3 months and we are just so in love with him.

Why did you

We went to North Shore. 99% of the puppies were all the same. He was the calmest. 6 years later he is still the calmest big guy.

Re: Why did you "pick" the pet you have?

Message edited 5/11/2016 11:09:28 AM.

Why did you

We went to north shore just after Christmas- the 26th so the place was bare! There were a good amount of dogs though- we saw a few we were interested in and then I think I just wanted a dog so I had them take a dog out of a crate that was a puppy mill rescue and in a ball the entire time didn't even pick her head up. We spent an hour with her and DH wanted her to go back, I didn't. Needless to say we left without her. My heart broke in a million pieces. I knew from the moment I saw her that she was meant to be a part of our family. I live an hour + from north shore. After much argument and crying I went the next day and picked her up. I called north shore they couldn't hold her so I raced there not knowing if she was still available and she was. When I got there I took her card and a few hours later we made our journey home. My little love is attached to me at the hip. She's so loyal, loving and playful. She has brought so much joy to our lives and I knew from the moment we met she had to be a part of our family. Turns out she had a ton of medical issues but never once have I ever regretted getting her. For me, I just knew when I held her.

Re: Why did you "pick" the pet you have?

I had a dog when I met DH. DH was not a fan of having a dog - didn't like the dog hair and "mess" . He dealt with it and all was fine, but after she passed away, he was adamant about not getting another dog. I knew that at some point I was going to start my "campaign" to get another dog, but hadn't started on it yet. DH and I had spent the day at The Cloisters and I was driving home. DH put an address into the GPS and said just follow the directions. I was thoroughly confused, but just went with it, thinking he had found some nice restaurant to go to. Well, we wound up in front of North Shore Animal League and I burst out crying - I "yelled" at him that if he was joking I was going to kill him. He said he just had a few "guidelines" for what kind of dog we would get - not a puppy, too big, not too small and short haired. I said I didn't care what kind of dog we got, I was just so happy to have any dog! So when we went in, there were maybe 3-4 dogs that fit the bill. We checked out a few, but there was this one little guy who was all curled up, sound asleep. I kept waiting for him to wake up, so I could see his face and as soon as he did, I knew he was "the one" . That was 2 summers ago and I am so happy that he is part of our family!

Message edited 5/13/2016 9:39:46 AM.

Why did you

We knew we wanted a smaller dog who didn't shed a lot, and we were not looking for a puppy. I tried working with several local rescues but since we had children (6 & 8 years old at the time) it seemed we didn't qualify for any dog according to them. We then found two dogs on petfinder.com both at the same foster home. One was very tiny and sick from being a in a puppy mill. I was scared the kids would be devastated if we took that dog and something happened. The other dog, Lucy was insanely happy to meet us, play and show off for us, we knew we had to take her home. She is now the most loyal, protective, sweetheart of a dog who fits in our family perfectly.

Why did you

DH allays had Miniature Schnauzers growing up, and we knew their disposition with children was great, and non-shedding meant no allergies for us. Jake is my first baby, and he is more than amazing with our children. He has a gorgeous marking on the side of his head like a #7
I knew when I sa him he was my lucky charm!

Why did you

We went to the shelter and there was a pure black pit/boxer mix and he was cowering in the corner. He was five months old and an abuse case and would not let anyone near him. He'd get scared and hide in a corner. We took him for a walk with a shelter worker and I told DH he's the one I want. Because he was so scared and his breed, I didn't think he'd get adopted quickly. We took him home and even now, nine years later, he's still untrusting of people but he's the best dog we've ever had.

Re: Why did you "pick" the pet you have?

Honestly he was cute. Basset Hound. In hindsight.. although I adore him.. not a good reason to pick a dog. I should have listened to the warnings about how bad they smell and the shedding. Turns out my son is allergic. I didn't want another froo froo dog.. but, that is what we need. I am a fan of big dogs. And that is what we got. He is big. Short but big. So don't go for the cute face. Think rationally. Don't be me...

ETA: This sounds bad. I love my cooper and wouldn't trade him for the world. Member of our family.. It's just a lesson learned. I had my heart set on a basset and I should have thought more reasonably. He is a snuggly love though. Even if he does smell like a garbage dump even with a bath once a week.

Message edited 5/29/2016 8:54:26 AM.

Re: Why did you "pick" the pet you have?

Our pets chose us. Our cats are rescues. When we met our dog, he was with a group of other dogs. He was sitting in a corner alone, looking at us and not playing with the others. I picked him up, and all he wanted to do was cuddle. The other dogs were great and all found wonderful homes too--so a happy story for all.

Re: Why did you "pick" the pet you have?

With mine I went to Petco and they had some cats in the cages from the local rescue.
But they had 2 baby kittens together in one cage and my heart just melted.

I had just lost my cat very suddenly and very young- I was so heartbroken and seeing these two made me smile like I hadn't in weeks.
I knew they had to be mine.
And 7 years later.... I know it was the right choice!
They are the best cats ever....

Re: Why did you "pick" the pet you have?

I found a local rescue that had an influx of kittens, so DH and I (we were newly dating) went to see some. There was one little black kitten who hissed and swatted at us the second we looked at him in the cage. We knew then that he was ours. Almost 9 years later, he has become the biggest mush ball that ever existed.

We went back to the same rescue when we wanted a playmate for him- I went with the intentions of getting a girl. There was a pair of siblings that were adorable and played so well with our cat Koal. I wanted the girl, but my husband wanted the boy. We ended up adopting both