Reactive and sick shelter dog who got adopted by first-time owner despite needing expensive vet treatments and training turns into a ‘big mush’ after only two weeks

Author image for Laurent Shinar
Laurent Shinar • Writer and Editor
Dec 24, 2025 3:00 PM EST

Adotping a doggo is no easy task. Beyond having to find the right pupper to live your life with, you have to jump through hoops of regulations, living standards and much more just to have the opportunity to meet a sweet pupper to brighten your life. And today we bring you the story of a hooman who wanted nothing more than to improve the life of a darling doggo who deserved better.

But after being shot down multiple times by various shelters and rescues who for some reason expected potential pawrents to be in early retieremtn and live in mansions with vast swaths of fenced in land, this pawrent felt as though hope was running out. Nonetheless they remained undeterred and continued their search to find their soul dog. Which they eventually found, sadly in rather poor shape under the care of Animal Services. Thankfully, they appreciated the devotion that this pawrent was willing to invest in their canine child and released the doggo into their care. Beginning a long, albeit rewarding road to physical and behavioral rehabilitation which quickly paid off as the pupper was overcome by his new pawrent's kindness.

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  • 01
    "$14 dog huh? Yeah, more like $2000 dog. But worth every vet bill."
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    To start my story, I inquired about several dogs at several different rescues and shelters in my area. That is where the trouble began... I was astounded by the lengths I needed to go to adopt a dog (10 page
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  • 03
    applications, house checks, etc) - but I dutifully went through all of it. The rescues were especially awful. I was told I was unfit to adopt a dog because I did not have a fenced in - yard despite the fact that I had access
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    to a large fenced dog park in my community that was rarely ever used (and yes, new doggie gets to go every day and he does not seem to mind that it's not a 'backyard'). I was told I couldn't have a dog because I work a full time job,
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    despite the fact that I come home on lunch daily and can work from home once a week. The reasons were endless. I was too young (23). I lived on the second floor. The real kiss of dth, I lived in an APARTMENT and
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    how could I expect a dog to live there? Only 1500 square feet? A__ __e! All joking aside, I spent two months getting rejected by rescues for reasons I thought were ridiculous. Not to mention, no one
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  • Well, we can certainly understand this pawrent’s frustration and it is not without more than a bit of validity. For after a certain point, it is more important to find a pupper a loving home than it is to make sure they end up in the most insanely ideal home. Those are far and few between and ultimatelyt it is love that will make a pupper’s life great, not a grand yard.

  • 07
    tried to be helpful or kind at all. I won't post any e-mails since this is not a vent post, but you get the picture. I was getting a bit discouraged, as it had been two months and I was no closer to finding a
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    dog than when I began my search. One weekend, I headed to Alabama to visit my boyfriend and we decided to go visit Animal Services. I have a hard time with pounds, they are very sad places and I just want to adopt
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    all of them. We walked around and saw a few different dogs, but one of them stood out to me. He was a 6 year old German Shepherd mix. He just was lying in the back of his cage. He'd pood everywhere, but was
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    just laying in it. It was so sad. Didn't even pick his head up when we walked by. I noticed on his writeup that he hadn't been taken out by a visitor for a long time. I insisted we take him out. When we
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    got outside to the play area, the dog (Marvin) was much happier. But, I could tell there were lots of issues. One of his ears was deformed due to infection, and the other was leaking some sort of sticky fluid. He pod every few minutes.
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    Cheezburger Image 10590027008
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  • Goodness what a poor pupper to be in such a state. And heck, an embarrassment for the shelter to be caring for a daeling doggo and not tend to the painful health problems that he is facing. Surely, it is a bare minimum to make sure that the animals within their care are not suffering by any means?
     

  • 13
    He had absolutely no manners - he would jump and bite. He seemed to have a slight limp. He was all skin and bones. But, there was just something about him... I couldn't name it, but the dog really connected with me.
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    But, that day, as I was petting him, I kept going over the problems in my head. Definitely had health issues. Wasn't trained, at all. Had some aggression. Also, I live in an apartment, and he was rather large for that (about 50
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    pounds at the time, but severely underweight). I left without taking him with me. I couldn't stop thinking about him the next two days that went by. Finally, I decided. That was my dog. I went to
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    Petsmart and dropped $500 on supplies: food, a giant crate, toys, p pads (I knew there was no way he was houstrained), etc. I called my boss and asked for the whole day off of work so I could drive 9 hours (total) to get a dog.
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    He thought I was crazy, but, he let me. The night before I didn't sleep at all. I had never owned a dog before. I had lots of experience with animals - namely horses - but I was questioning what I was getting
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    myself into. I went and found the most difficult first dog possible. What if I was a terrible owner? What if he was too much dog for me? I would never return a dog after I got it, so, I was so terrified I was
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    dooming myself for the next 4-6 years. I thought of every possible bad scenario. That morning, I was ready to puke with nerves. What made me go was a woman named Cindy. I saw that the shelter had
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    posted a picture of Mary after we had taken him out to play. You see, the shelter will give anyone a dog without those rigorous background checks, because they are just trying to get the dogs adopted. A
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    woman named Cindy commented on it, saying she would love to adopt him. I clicked her page. Cindy had pictures of another dog, a GSD, who was tied up outside in her muddy yard and had a ragged coat. He looked skinny.
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    He did not look like a happy dog, and I would be damned if Marv was going to go there too. I bolted out the door at 6 am, because I had to beat Cindy to the shelter. Who knows if she was even actually
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    interested in adopting him? But the second I saw that, all my nerves disappeared and I sped down the mountainous highways to Alabama. They opened at 9 am, and I would get there are 9:30. I called several
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    times to see if they could hold him for me - but their answer was no. First person there got the dog. I finally got there and when I ran to see him, he was still in his cage. He looked up at me
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    Cheezburger Image 10590026752
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    with those puppy eyes. "I'm back," I said, "And you're coming with me." In the end, I adopted Marv for $14. I loaded him up in the back of my mom's car (my car is a little Mazda, would have never fit his massive
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    crate), and took him straight to the park. He was so excited. Ever since then, he loves getting into cars. He also happens to think I own every car in the world... We drove 4 hours home, and spend
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    the first night in the apartment. I noticed snot coming out of his nose, and realized, Marv was sicker than I realized. I spent the first night with him up the whole night, wiping his nose so he could breathe. That
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    morning, I dragged him to the vet to find out what was wrong. Well, what WASN'T wrong with Marv? He had an upper respiratory infection (hence the snot). He had a bladder infection. He had
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    one of the nastiest ear infections the vet had ever seen. He was 20 pounds underweight. We got a strong course of ants and a... *. The next few nights were sleepless, but, finally the meds kicked in
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    Cheezburger Image 10590027264
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    and Mary could breathe. I wrestled him everyday to put in the ear medicine. The next few weeks I found out even more. I spent tons of time working on his training – learning "sit", learning to go potty outside, and
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    mainly, learning not to jump and bite. After two weeks, he was a big mush. He looked like a wolf but he was very sweet and very smart. Or, at least he was to me. Upon meeting my mom, he jumped
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    and snapped at her. After some time, he relaxed and was good, but it had scared me nonetheless. On one of our walks, he lunged at a man who ran out in front of us. I kept him under control every time, but we had a
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    lot to work on. The worst, was with my sister. He had been fine when they met, and we were hanging out in my common room. She plopped herself on the ground and started petting him rather roughly.
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    Everything that happened next happened very quickly. He whined, whirled around, and snapped at her face. He growled and barked before he got off. I was in shock, and so was my sister.
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    We spent the next few weeks working on human socialization and feeling secure, as I believed the attacking was caused by insecurity. I started learning all sorts of things I did not know - like the fact that dogs could
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    be "reactive" and that more often than not it was caused by fear. I booked a session with a behaviorist sometime in April, so that Marv can learn I am not the only good human out there.
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    But we worked, and we trained. He knows sit, stay, and crate now. He is housetrained. He has almost completely stopped being mouthy. He has gained 10 pounds, and he is much, much happier.
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    But, we're not in the clear yet. I found out last week that Marv has hol L... ns, and he has been having a lot trouble with that. He is finishing his mon today, and hopefully he will be okay. He finished his bidder iron tr nt,
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    but, the medicine did not help as he has still been chugging water and ping a ton. The vet is going to send out a u....e culture 10 days from now (since we need to get the artic for the w...s out of his system). We have
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    ruled out diabetes, so please everyone send good thoughts it is something simple! He is in his last treatment for his ears, and we are hoping in a week or two they will be healthy. You're thinking, yeah, $14 dog huh? Yeah,
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    more like $2000 dog. But worth every vet bill. Marv is an amazing dog, and I have not had a single regret since I got him. I hope he lives for many, many years to come. We go adventuring every
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    weekend - this weekend we went to a horse show to watch "the big dogs." I am so happy I found him.
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