I’ve seen a lot on social media the past few weeks about high numbers of dog surrenders and full shelters, and I wanted to take some time to once again tell you why you should adopt a pet.

I’m sure you all know very well at this point about my rescue dog, Dobby. I haven’t mentioned him on here for a while, but he’s still here living his best life!

I got Dobby from the Humane Society in Sioux Falls about a month after I moved back to South Dakota. I’d always wanted a dog of my own and now that I was living alone it was the perfect time.

Dobby had been surrendered to the pound twice before I adopted him. And while it wasn’t immediately obvious the day I first met him, it was clear after I spent more time with him that whoever had Dobby before me did not treat him very well. Despite this, he was still a happy boy when I saw him sitting in his cage at the pound. His tail was wagging and he looked excited to see me there.

Looking back now I like to think it was because he knew he was meant to come home with me. Because almost any other person he came in contact with those first few days of having him home, he was pretty scared to be around. He was even terrified of Dan when he first came into our lives too.

Which honestly just breaks my heart. I don’t understand why anyone could treat a defenseless animal – who gives us so much more love than we deserve – like they’re a piece of trash.

And I think that may be why people don’t always want to adopt from a shelter. They see these animals as thrown away and not good enough. When honestly, it’s probably the piece of crap human who treated them less than they deserve.

I’ll be the first to admit that Dobby was far from perfect when I brought him home. He was a full grown dog at that time and he had been taught several bad habits, or just not taught at all, and it was difficult to get him to behave at times. And him being afraid of everyone didn’t help either, because we had to build up his trust from scratch. It took a lot of work and it was really hard at times.

But honestly, it was SO worth it. It wasn’t his fault he was treated so poorly and dropped off at the pound like he didn’t matter. Although there are exceptions, I feel like it’s almost never the dog’s fault. Dogs take work no matter what stage of life you get them in, and if you aren’t willing to put in the time and effort to raise them, then you should just think twice about getting a dog anyway.

But if you are serious about wanting a dog and think now is a good time to finally do it, I strongly encourage you to check out the shelters. Odds are, you’ll find the perfect match there waiting for you. And no dog deserves to live out their life at the pound without a family to love them.

Dobby has grown so much since I brought him home so many years ago. He is so loving and I know he’d do whatever he could to protect me, just like I’d do for him. He’s a part of our family now and always will be. I’ll always be glad we rescued this sweet boy.

Until next time! 🙂

Megan Nelson