Surrendered dog with a reputation for bad behavior gets adopted into furever home by vet technician after she discovers that: ‘Winston is (actually) the best dog I've met.’

Advertisement
  • 01
    "Suddenly he would get excited and do zoomies when one of us came home"
  • Advertisement
  • 02
    I work at a shelter as a tech. My husband made me promise when I started that I wouldn't bring home any more animals no matter what, since we already had two cats, and I am a cat person. But then Winston came in to the shelter. Winston
  • 03
    was surrendered at 4 years old by people who had adopted him from my shelter as a puppy. Why? "He's a little si.t" were the verbatim words spoken by the former owner. Before they bailed, they told us Winston
  • 04
    had 2 bites on his record and had many other unreported ones. While checking him out, we found that he was missing all the hair on the back half of his back and most of his tail, he had a giant tumor
  • Advertisement
  • 05
    on his back left leg, his ear hairs were severely matted and the ears were infected, his upper incisors were mostly ground down, and his toenails were almost curling into the pads. He also did not give 2 st. s while we were doing
  • 06
    Cheezburger Image 10590034176
  • 07
    all this stuff to him that normal dogs would not like. In fact, he was so easygoing that everyone wondered how he had ANY bites, reported or not. We called up Animal Control to get the full story.
  • Advertisement
  • 08
    The same officer responded to both calls, and was able to give some context. The previous owners left him in the backyard whenever they weren't home. He had access to food, water and shelter, but most of his time
  • 09
    was out there by himself. They ALSO left both of the gates to the backyard wide open, because they figured out he doesn't run away (to this day he "asks for permission" before following my husband or me off leash). So what
  • 10
    happened was...he was by himself, chewing himself bald, and he heard someone coming up the driveway and ran out to greet his owners. Only it turns out, it was just a delivery person. To be fair, Winston has the eyes of a psycho
  • Advertisement
  • 11
    Cheezburger Image 10590033664
  • 12
    clown k...er any time he's not sleeping. I don't blame the delivery drivers for reacting to a mus looking dog running at them. I also don't blame Winston for biting in response to being punted. And as it turned out, I
  • 13
    was told by the vet that removed the giant (benign) tumor on his leg that it's often caused by severe trauma...like being kicked. Anyway, I quickly discovered how awesome Winston is. He will go up to
  • Advertisement
  • 14
    anyone and just plop his head on their knee. If people want to hold him on their lap, that's fine too. Five kids want to come up and smoosh his face and give him kisses? Perfectly awesome. He doesn't care
  • 15
    E
  • 16
    about other dogs, no matter how intrusive they are being. He snuggles with cats. But it goes both ways. He doesn't care about food, or toys, or walking, playing, swimming, etc. Just sleeping in a
  • Advertisement
  • 17
    comfortable spot. I knew he was the perfect dog for my husband and me, because we needed a super mellow dog that didn't need a ton of exercise, due to our work schedules. But the biggest thing for me
  • 18
    was that a dog will be euthanized after 3 recorded bites. I could not let this amazing dog go home with a person who didn't understand him and might put him in a position to bite again. Like I said, my husband didn't want
  • 19
    any more animals, but I managed to cajole him into letting Winston come to our house for an overnight stay. If he didn't get along with our cats, the roommates or the other dog, I wouldn't adopt him. If he chewed
  • Advertisement
  • 20
    anything, had accidents, or ran away, I wouldn't adopt him. Guess what? He was PERFECT. My husband said the morning I was taking him back "Yeah we have to have him."
  • 21
    Cheezburger Image 10590033408
  • 22
    We adopted him, and he was a great little dog. But he always seemed to think we were going to hurt him or abandon him. We gave him tons of toys, treats, beds, etc. He probably didn't like it, but I
  • Advertisement
  • 23
    gave him special food, medication and baths so he could stop itching. I cleaned his ears out and trimmed his nails. Eventually, Winston got to spend all day on the couch watching TV, spending the
  • 24
    evenings going on walks and cuddling, then sleeping in the bed. But still, he seemed scared of us. I don't know what changed, but it was almost exactly a year from when we adopted him that his attitude shifted.
  • 25
    Suddenly he would get excited and do zoomies when one of us came home, or when he was about to go on a walk. Instead of just being in bed with us, he would prop his head up on a leg or arm. He started to nose poke to get
  • Advertisement
  • 26
    someone to put their arm over him, or grunt when he wasn't getting attention. Rolling on his back and snorting until he gets belly rubs is pretty common. I don't even know why I went on this
  • 27
    rant, other than to say how much I love my dog, and how much I hope no one gives up on a shelter dog until it's clear it's necessary. Winston is the best dog I've met, and I'm not just saying that because he's my buddy now.

Tags

Scroll Down For The Next Article