‘I spent years terrified to leave the house alone, but his confidence has started to rub off on me; he wasn't the dog I sought out, but he is my perfect dog.’: The sick rescue and pawrent who healed together through unlikely love and a wagging tail.

Author image for Laurent Shinar
Laurent Shinar • Writer and Editor
Apr 11, 2026 8:15 AM EDT

If you thought it was easy finding a doggo to adopt then you might be shocked by this pawson's seriously long struggle to find a pupper they could adopt. But even more so surprised by how the pupper they did find helped them heal together.

It is of constant shock to us how hard it is to adopt a dog. If you want to buy a dog all you need is money, but to give a second chance to a doggo soul that had been forgotten about, abandoned or dumped is one of the toughest things to achieve. Or at least it was for this dog loving hooman who wanted nothing more than to have a dog by their side as they dealt with the difficulties of life.

But after persevering and doing anything and everything under the sun to finally find the dog that would be theirs, the relationship they developed with that pupper is like no other. A truly heartfelt relationship based on mutual respect and healing. Proving that determination and dedication are all you need to get wherever you want to go.
 

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    "He wasn't the dog I'd sought out, but he's my perfect dog."
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    I don't really get to gush about it as much as I'd like, but I just really adore him. He's not the dog I thought I'd get but he's absolutely perfect for me. Not perfect of course, but for my first dog I
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  • 03
    think we make a great team. Ands it's been a pretty long road to get him, but definitely worth it. Between my therapist and me, a dog seemed like the best way to help me with my rd and aga. I'd
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  • See, this is what happens when you rescue a dog instead of buying one. Even if it is only the mindset with which you enter into the relationship rescuing sets the tone for a relationship of respect, healing, progression and understanding when things get tough. Buying a dog leaves you full of expectation, demands, and likely a whole lot of broken dreams when the very expensive pooch you purchased ends up going number 2 on your carpet. Not to mention that many rescued doggos understand what it is like to be scared of the world after it mistreated you, which is such a pawfect quality for a pawson who needed to be understood and supported by the pupper who would accompany them through life.

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    already had small pets, who I love dearly as well, and taking care of them was something that has majorly helped me be as functional as I am even currently, but when you're having panic attacks a dissociating, a caged
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    pet can't really help much. I spent nearly 4 years terrified to leave the house alone, I cut off nearly everyone in my life except my fiance and parents. Last year, I was
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    actively searching for a dog anywhere I could. I'm most familiar with herding breeds as most of my extended family members with dogs have aussies, and had lived with a corgi briefly, and
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    have done a lot of research on good breeds for my life, and had even tried talking to a couple reputable breeders, which went absolutely nowhere, presumably since I had never had a dog of my own, and I'm
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    in my early twenties. I knew I didn't want a small dog because I'm terrified of all the what-ifs that go along with that- mostly coyotes and other larger dogs, but i was fine with dogs that even had some behavior
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    issues, barring major potty-training as that was my fiance's main stipulation. But I was willing to deal with anything that could be dealt with a bit or a lot of patience and training, I'd been looking up training info for a few years
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    and assumed I could handle it. Especially since most of the dogs I kept seeing being rehomed were due to simple issues fixed by exercise and simple corrections (destructive when left alone, jumps up on people, etc)
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    I'd tried to adopt from a rescue the next state over for a herding breed dog, and I was too far for them, which s but I kept looking. There were a few dogs I was close to adopting, one aussie where the owner
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  • Jheez, we cannot imagine how tough it must be to be constantly ignored while you are actively seeking help. Like, with all the dogs who are left to live out in the cold, who are turned away from shelters because they are full. Is there not one dog who can be given to someone who is ready to love them? We simply cannot imagine what could be stopping so many different organizations from pairing this pawson up with a pupper. After all, sooner or later these doggos need to find a suitable home, not pawfect, suitable. 

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    suddenly quit responding, and another that I'd need to wait a while for for whatever reason. My fiance was also really dragging her feet with them, and it wasn't until put on the spot with the
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    dog that would later become our boy that she admitted she'd likely never feel ready for a dog. Early december, last year, I'd kinda mindlessly applied for a dog from a private adopter on some website and
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    within the hour I'd gotten a call. And told me the posted info wasn't entirely true about him and I'm sure thought I wouldn't want him anymore. Instead of being "young" he was 6, but that actually eased my fiance's mind a bit
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    and we went and got him a couple days later, to our surprise. We thought we were going to just be meeting him, but we brought him home, and he was NOT a medium sized dog like his page said either. Finally at a healthy weight,
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    he's 90 pounds. And absolutely no shade to his past owner, she was going through some things and she clearly loved him too, and finding him a new home was the best option. He's a very energetic
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    6 year old german shepherd/golden retriever with a funny foot who only seemed to know "sit" when we got him and believed he was/is a lapdog. He started off by harshly nipping us and at one point trying to hump us
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    whenever possible. He had an ear hematoma and had tested positive for heartworm. We still need to have him tested in a few months to make sure he's clear but we're finally past the worst of the
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    treatment, and finally off exercise limitation. He's now got a pretty solid "down", "stay", "shake" and "in" (to go in his crate) along with an okay "leave it" "drop" and is starting to have good leash manners.
    via CanisGladiolus
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    He's such a good learner, and so food motivated, whenever he wants a treat and I grab the bag, he already sits and lifts his paw because he thinks I'll ask him to shake. but it's the most adorable little pawing motion. He definitely still
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    thinks he's a lapdog, and he is Imao. He's kind of an excited barker, and gets quite loud when it comes to food time, He's kinda really clumsy and will trip over his own feet on walks occasionally, smack his head into
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    probably anything, and might also be the most unobservant dog ive ever met in my life, he's really protective about the house but has taken him until someone is 4 feet in front of him to figure it out before. But he's also a total
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    marshmallow. He's all bark and no bite even when a stranger comes in. Aside from in the house he's probably got the chillest temperament I've really seen, especially given what he could have gone through and
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    having his life turned upside down suddenly. Few things really phase him, he's so confident and I'm so glad. just a couple days ago on a walk a neighbor's dog lunged at us and I couldn't really tell if it was on a leash or
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    not, thankfully it was. But in that moment I was ready to fight this dog myself to keep him from getting to my boy, but he was also trying to stand his own ground too. Walking quickly away, the fear finally caught up to me and
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    TireBiter
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    i had a panic attack, but he's really good at distracting me by nudging at my hands and leaning into me. not even twenty minutes later we passed by that dog again to get back home and he didn't even give it more than a glance.
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    He only really gets aggressive when egged on by other aggressive dogs, but I've been working on getting him to ignore them, which is working pretty well. He's probably a bit too overconfident at
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    times and really doesn't understand personal space with other dogs, and will get in there face and has the gall to look surprised(with the GSD eyebrow thing) when they snap at him. I need to protect him from his own stupidity
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    sometimes, especially since he doesn't seem to understand how big he is. Especially in the mornings when he likes to wake me up by jumping on me and more likely than not, laying on my face.
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    He can't seem to understand how he can possibly wrap his leash around a pole and it takes a lot to get him untangled, and he really doesn't Get fetch. He just likes to carry and shake his toys. He's really not a fan of water unless
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    it's out of a hose and he can bite it, but he is a huge fan of blow dryers. And wow is he talkative. He straight up makes whale noises sometimes, I swear. He makes quiet barks, and makes a lot of little grumbly noises and it's just
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    really hilarious sometimes. It's a little sad to think about how many people are scared of him on walks though, people have even kept their kids from coming near him. He does really well with kids. Actually he
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    even does well with men(who he doesn't like as much- I'm not even excluded) grabbing at his face. He's a big baby. And I honestly think I need to get him a bandana or bowtie to put on his collar to make him appear more approachable,
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    especially because he loves people. I've got his back and he has mine. He's a very sweet, very intelligent Idiot, and I love him so very much. I want him to feel loved always. He deserves it, and better if I'm being
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    honest. He's perfectly goofy and he's helped me so much in making me feel comfortable leaving the house, his confidence has started to rub off on me. I worry I'm not doing enough for him all the time, especially since he was a on strict
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    exercise restriction for over half the time i've had him so far, but I know it was necessary. The road to getting a dog was a rather long and bumpy one but I'm glad it worked out the way that it did in the end.
    via CanisGladiolus
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    He wasn't the dog I'd sought out, but he's my perfect dog.
    via CanisGladiolus

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healing dogs unlikely tail reddit story wagging years perfect pawrents love dog story sick rescue
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