Who saved who?

Samantha Stewart
Apr 11, 2016
2 min read

Some people get baby fever, others have wedding fever, and a few years ago I suffered from a severe case of puppy fever.

Truth is, I was going through a rough time in my life and I really just wanted a constant companion I could always count on. Given the fact that I've always been a dog lover I didn't think that there was any other option.

I spent hours upon hours looking up puppies for sale (probably when I should have been doing homework) determined to find my four-legged soulmate. I searched on Craigslist, The Giant Nickel, and even a few breeder webpages for months but nothing ever stuck out to me.

My mom suggested that I spend a few months volunteering at an animal shelter as a way to get my puppy fix without fully committing to something I might not be ready for. It couldn't hurt, I thought.

A few short weeks later, we ended up with Tucker - the biggest, sweetest, goofiest baby you could ever meet!

Tucker, a two-year-old flat coat retriever, was brought in to PAWS Animal Shelter in Lynnwood, Wash. after being removed from an awful hoarding situation. A man was keeping him and 15 other dogs in a minivan - sick.

He was quiet, timid and had a very obvious fear of humans. I was immediately drawn to him for reasons to this day I'm still not sure of...I just knew that I had to save him.

When we brought Tucker home he wanted nothing to do with any of us. The picture above on the right is the first day we had him; he wouldn't move from that spot in the kitchen and would start to shake if anyone came near him. We couldn't get him to eat, drink, or play with any toys.

The picture above on the left is how I found him less than a week later. He had grabbed the two biggest stuffed animals I had in my closet and brought them downstairs to cuddle with!

It took a little time and a lot of patience but Tucker eventually started to trust us.

At the time, I thought I was doing him a favor by adopting him from the animal shelter and didn't even realize how much he was helping me. Not only was he distracting me from every other crazy thing going on in my life but he was literally living proof that no matter what situation you're thrown into things can always turn around and you can learn to trust again.

After watching him continue to grow over the years, I've come to the conclusion that if you want an animal, adoption really is the best way to go about it. Not only are you helping a life but they will greatly benefit yours in every way possible. :)