Happy Thanksgiving, Today we give thanks for our dogs!

Happy Thanksgiving!  It’s a safe bet that any dog owner/lover when asked what they are most thankful for, their dog is either #1, or at the very top of the list!  And likewise, if asked, our dogs would list us as #1, with treats, squirrels and the satisfaction of keeping the mailman at bay, close behind.

Today as we give thanks for the many blessings in our lives, Stephanie Pauley shares her family’s story of finding Stika – or more correctly, Stika and the Pauleys finding each other!

Stephanie, thank you for sharing this beautiful story and for touching our hearts!

 

Stika's Story

In 2009 we adopted/rescued our first Aussie and approximately 2 years later we decided that, like potato chips, 1 Aussie is never enough. Our search began and ended on Petfinder when we found this ad:

 

Hello there. My name is Sir Irwin. My foster Mom rescued me from a high kill shelter in Kentucky. I had chewed threw my rope that had me tethered to a tree. Needless to say, my owners were not concerned enough to come looking for me, so now I am a "rescue dog". I like being a rescue dog, it means I get to sleep indoors instead of outside, on the couch instead of a muddy, dirty yard and I get all the food, water and treats one could imagine. Yep, I have it good now! 

My foster Mom named me Sir Irwin, after the late Steve Irwin. I guess because I am an Australian shepherd, this is the best she could come up with. AND no, I do not have an accent when I bark. LOL.

 

Our interest most especially on high alert, we made an inquiry into this beautiful boy. Luckily, we don’t live far from where he was being kept and our application for adoption was approved.

 

The very first meeting with Sitka Erwin, and yes each of our boys have middle names, he was frightened and shaking. He hid behind the workers leg as if we would hurt him, but that quickly changed. I slowly lowered myself down to his level, took his sweet mussel gently into my hand, and gently blew into his nose. As I did so, his wiggly Aussie nubbin’ swung around until he was snuggled firmly against my leg. I would like to say that all went well from the start but that was not to be. Sitka had a few challenges to overcome like worms, learning a new name, and potty training. Thankfully he is one smart Aussie, but aren’t they all. The worms were cleared up, he learned his new name and although it’s spelled differently keeping Erwin as his middle name helped tremendously, and going from an outside puppy to an inside puppy didn’t take long.

 

Over the last 4 years, Sitka has learned many tricks like: sit, down, rollover, stay, shake with left paw, high five with right paw, and is working on learning to play dead as well as taking a requested item to a specific person. Along with his tricks his most favorite thing to do is play ball.

 

Our family has grown to include a little brother to complete the Brother Bear trio of Kenai, Sitka, and Denahi. He is wonderful with his brothers, and he loves our grandson so much that he whines with excitement when he knows he's coming. 

 

He still doesn't realize that he's not supposed to be a lap dog and will spend as much time snuggling with us as possible. He's such a snuggler that I my husband or I take a nap on the couch he naps on the couch with us. Heaven help us, or should I say me, when my husband and I both nap on the couch because he will lie on top of me.

 

Finally, some of his many wonderful qualities would have to include the fact that he must be part Wookie, when he’s happy not only does his butt wiggle but his entire backside wiggles so much that he literally bends himself into a U-shape.

 

While we do not wish harm to any of our babies, we have already discussed becoming a foster family when our boys go to heaven to wait for us. We know that it will be not only the hardest thing we will ever do, but will be the most rewarding/selfless thing we could imagine. A HUGE wonderful thank you for all that the rescue groups do.

The Pauley’s:  Stephanie, Clint, Kenai Junie, Sitka Erwin, and Denahi Eugene

 

Would you like to share your story with PawsGo?  Send us a note in the comment section!  We love a great story!