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In my country, the stray dogs are an enormous issue for the authorities to deal with, therefore, exactly 2 years ago, I decided to unexpectedly adopt one for my household to enjoy, too! I remember that I saw this particular stray dog hidden in a dark corner of a building, and I gazed upon it for a brief moment. It wasn't truly visually appealing to watch whatsoever, but its condition actually melted my heart pretty badly, and I actually could see more within it rather than its literally dreadful external aspect, so I continued with my persistent stare for another 10 seconds. He had gotten up to reach my feet before even properly turning around and leave. I will never forget those big eyes that were beseeching me to save them, those ears that were leaned backwards in the hope that I would ultimately see them and... the forced smile, as someone which, even though he would've been through a difficult life, he still could've kept a big smile permanently. That dog was persuading me more than all my cats have ever achieved to do, in fact.
Afterwards, without further thoughts, I asked every single member of the family to accept it, and, shockingly-surprising, as none of them were truly dog-friendly because we had only cats, they accepted!
The dog which I adopted was a mixture between a shih tzu and a peke, from the sayings of the vet.
Honestly, I couldn't be more contented with it. Oftentimes I even forget that I have a dog in my house mostly because it doesn't truly say anything. The only exception is when a stranger (for it) come to our house. Only then it starts to loudly bark for about 1 minute, then it goes to sleep because it gets bored quickly, or fatigued, I can't really tell.
As a matter of fact, today is the birthday of it officially joining our family and becoming a respected member!
I think that we shouldn't opt for a dog solely because it has a certain name, but because it has the potential to become your future omnipresent and, the most important, trustworthy companion. At least, this is what my dog has managed to demonstrate me until this moment of my writing. Say hello, Tasha!

What a wonderful story!! And what a truely lucky dog to have someone with such compassion take it in and give it a loving home. I have a small dog that is a yorki/shitzu mix and she adds so much to my life. She is loving toward me and is always in whatever part of the house I am in. She is very quiet, and only seems to bark when someone rings the doorbell. I cannot imagine my life without her. I had a large dog for many years that I rescued. I am sure that dog knew I had saved it and he was a faithful companion. I am sure your little dog knows that you saved it from a miserable, and most likely short life.

I also agree that when we rescue a dog from unhappy circumstances, they DO know and understand that we have saved them, and they are grateful.
My Gladiator Doberman, Bruno, was a rescue dog. Bruno was a purebred Dobie, and he had been professionally trained as a guard dog. When the local mill went on strike, they purchased Bruno to guard the mill so that the striking workers would not come in and destroy mill property.
After the strike was over, the mill was going to have Bruno put to sleep, but one of the mill workers asked to take him, and he was given to that worker.
It was a year or so later that I came upon Bruno. I was working my insurance sales route, and Bruno was tied out in a muddy yard on a long heavy chain. He was freezing in the cold early spring weather, his food was scattered in the mud and the birds were pecking at it. He hated that, but he was too cold and skinny to even bother chasing them away. You could see his backbone sticking out, and every rib was showing.
I asked the people if they would give Bruno to me, and they agreed. I loaded him into the covered back part of my pickup, took him along with me , and put a big pan of food in the center of my spare tire laying in the back. Some warm blankets for Bruno to lie on, and he was a happy dog again !
I had him for many years, and I know that he appreciated me for taking him home that cold wintery day.

What a heart melting story. The power of adoption and the bond that it creates is AMAZING.Especially if you adopt a pet from a kill shelter. They can smell death and very few shelters treat the animals humanely. Some people think they are doing the best thing for their "pet" when they surrender it to a shelter but sadly it has a higher chance of being killed than being adopted. Some people just don't understand and it is stories like this one that encourage people to try adoption. Some of the pictures of dogs in shelters and then the pictures after they have been adopted are mind blowing. The dogs don't even look like the same dogs. They aren't standing in a cold, scary cage unsure of what may happen next. They are once again feeling love and joy like they should and like they probably knew before they were dumped off.
I volunteer at my local shelter and it is heartbreaking. It has an 80% kill rate. Every weekend there are new dogs in the cages and the gentle, sweet ones or the ones that were coming down with the elusive "kennel cough" are all gone simply because someone cared for them at one point but that someone didn't fulfill their responsibility as a pet owner. My town just got a low cost spay/neuter clinic so every hopes the kill rate at the county shelter will start to decline. But truly it starts with education and spay/neuter.