Like most things in my life, it has been a long and winding road to Lucky Dog Animal Rescue. Growing up, my parents were not dog people – my mother’s view was that if she wanted a dog, she would have had a third child. My husband, on the other hand, always had a dog but needed a way to convince me. As the story goes, one cold wintry day a very cold hungry stray puppy hopped into his car at the end of his work day, which began my journey to Lucky Dog!

This stray puppy, named Zackadog Nozzlerocket after the rocket test facility where my husband found the puppy, taught me how to be a dog owner. I learned that cardboard boxes make terrible dog crates, that puppies are clever counter surfers, and that they definitely love homemade pies. But more importantly, I learned the power of a dog’s love. But like all animals, Zack did not live forever, and I experienced the very real pain of saying goodbye to my most loyal friend. Realizing that I could never live without a dog by my side, my husband followed his lifelong dream, and we adopted a Dalmatian rescue who became our little girl’s best friend. Needless to say, we were all completely smitten.

By now we all knew that adopting rescues was going to be a major part of our life. And in no time along came another stray puppy who looked exactly like our very first. But unlike our first two dogs, this poor little girl was overcome with fears and anxieties. It took a week before we could get this shy little girl to even come into the house, but eventually hotdogs got the better of her. It took a couple more weeks to get Savanna out of the basement but eventually her older brother, Pepper, helped her gain some braves and Savanna became the kindest sweetest dog that anyone could ever have.

As Savanna matured, we knew it was time to find a second dog to help her through her golden years like she helped Pepper. A friend who fosters for Lucky Dog started sending pictures of adorable puppies and after one little peek on the website, we fell madly in love with a beautiful white dog with black spots and Dalmatian ears who was one of those special “second dog required” dogs! After many calls with screeners, Adoption Coordinators, and the foster to confirm we would give this very special girl the extra special care, attention, and most of all patience to help her find her “braves,” we began the next part of the journey that got me one step closer to volunteering for Lucky Dog. Savanna was a wonderful big sister to Daisy but sadly she finally told us that she had to say farewell. By this point, we knew that Daisy had to have a pal and along came the next Lucky Dog – a puppy named Taz that was so full of energy and excitement, even Daisy couldn’t resist her love of life.

The passion and commitment of all the volunteers we worked with to adopt our two Lucky Dogs was too infectious for me to ignore. The next thing I knew I was an Adoption Screener, and then on the Puppy Team, and then the Matchmaking Team, and then helping at adoption events. Volunteering has added so much to my life, and I thank Lucky Dog for giving me the opportunity to see the smiles of a family posing with their new puppy, or to help a retired couple find their forever dog to share their golden years, or to share a cry with another family who has just lost a family member and desperately wants to adopt another. And most of all, leading me to a community of other LDAR volunteers who are the most passionate and caring people I have ever met. I could never have predicted that the little girl who never had a pet would now be a committed volunteer at Lucky Dog Animal Rescue but here I am and I thank you all!