Having grown up in a home where dogs played a starring role in the family, I always feel most comfortable when I have at least one dog around. Scott and I have been a number of years as a single dog family…Phthalo is our baby, and brings us great joy and companionship. However, we recently began to talk about the idea of bringing a second dog into our life. We knew we wanted to adopt a shelter dog…for my life philosophy, this is the only way to go when choosing a new dog. I started searching petfinder.com and finally settled on adopting “Happy,” a black and white mixed breed girlie from Friends Fur Life, in Tennessee.

So this Saturday, we made the trip to Windham, New Hampshire, where we met Peterson’s Pet Transport, and picked up our new girl! Nothing could have prepared us for the scene that day. The pet transport is a large enclosed horse hauler outfitted inside with a number of individual crates and kennels. As the hauler pulled into the car park, people began to pour out of vehicles and crowd around the trailer door. Then the fun began, as dogs of every shape and size were each led from the kennels and given to their new families or foster homes. It was such an emotional time…if not for all the wonderful people who were willing to adopt these dogs and give them a second chance, these sweet pups would have been euthanized.

Happy has only been with us for a few days, but already she has become one of our little gang. She is so sweet and playful…always keeping the more sedate Phthalo on her toes. Like many shelter dogs, she seems so happy to have been given someone to love. Thank you to Renee Huntley of Friends Fur Life of Tennessee for facilitating her adoption and to everyone else who helped her out along her way!