06/01/2026
My other half, Matt, and I have always talked about going to an animal shelter and adopting a dog who was scheduled to be euthanized due to no fault of their own. Over the last few months, we began talking about the training and decompression that such things take. Last night, Matt said to me, 'I need to save a life. I need to go to the animal shelter and make this happen.' I didn't hesitate and told him that I would pull up the euthanasia list, interview the animals on the list, and then put in applications for any of them that I think I am equipped enough to help while keeping all of our other pack and herd members happy. Out of the five on their list, I felt that Elwood would best adapt to life with us and make a great addition to our family. Elwood said that before he came to the shelter, he was a stray since he was a young puppy. He said that before then he was with a man who thought he would be a tough dog, but Elwood said he is a lap pittie who loves hugs and cats. Elwood said that the man abandoned him in an RV or very small apartment. Elwood said that someone let him out of the small space and he never went back. While on the lamb, he said that he was hit by a car. He has scars on his right front leg and limps on his right rear. He said that after he had been hit by the car, animal control picked him up. At the shelter, he became shelter-shocked and was so stressed that he became ill, lost weight, and became reactive to his boundaries.
We have not seen a reactive bone in this dog's body language here. He still thinks he has his testicles, but in a couple more weeks that will change. Introductions have gone incredibly smoothly. I talked him into letting me give him his first-ever bath. He has never seen a couch. He was quick to pick up on the game of fetch, but tug is a mind-blowing concept to him. His overall attitude is, 'If you love on me, you can do whatever you need to me.' When I bathed him, he was like, 'I'm not sure what to think. Okay, you want my feet here; I can do that. Oh, that water is scary, but I'll hold still until it's over. Oh wait, I kind of like this... wait I really like this, what! No! It's over? Why did you stop? Keep going; this is fun! I really like this.' Can I kiss your chin? And toweling him off the first time, he gave me the most pittie side-eye of 'what are you going to do with that?' Then I showed him... after the first two or three rubs, his eyes rolled back with joy and his head tilted back, and he told me he loves getting rubbed with towels as he kissed my chin. We're going to be great friends.
