June 24th, 2017 my life changed forever. My boyfriend and I adopted a dog from The Yakima Humane Society in Washington state, named Skeeter. We were told he was roughly a year old and they guessed he was a Bulldog and Boston Terrier mix.
He’s a rescue pup; it hasn’t all been easy. When we rescued him he was underweight, had food aggression issues, and wasn’t used to being on a leash. He had plenty of bathroom accidents in our apartment. He had several noticeable past injuries, including a tail that had clearly been broken multiple times. But we had to be patient.
As we were getting used to one another, he started having issues with his skin. We noticed he’d turn almost bright pink and we started finding scabs from where it looked like he was itching himself too hard. A trip to the vet confirmed it, Skeeter had bad allergies. So far, we know he’s allergic to beef, wild boar, and chicken.
We knew things wouldn’t be easy, but we had chosen to adopt. We enrolled in doggy training classes, we took trips to the vet, anti-histamines and a special diet.
It’s been hard, but no doubt in my mind that it has been worth it.
Here are five reasons that adopting a dog was worth it:
1. The look on his face when you get home
There is officially nothing better than coming home after a long day at work and having a dog so excited to see you. No matter how my day has gone, no matter what’s happened, he acts like me coming home is the best day of his life. He jumps and does his little butt wiggle. He has no idea of personal space, so you can sit down and he’s right on your lap just ready for love. He has so much love to give.
2. Teaching (much needed) patience
Adopting a dog is a big leap of faith. You have pretty much no idea whether they’ll be easy to train, whether they have bad habits that you’ll have to try and retrain, or just how they’ll adjust to a new life. Skeeter came with his fair share of bad habits and challenges, and, it’s not his fault. My patience has increased tenfold. Slowly, but surely, his bad habits are fading (or at least they aren’t so noticeable).
3. It's cheaper
Adopting is certainly cheaper than buying from a breeder (or heaven forbid a puppy mill). We paid $125 dollars to adopt Skeeter, which included vaccinations and neutering.
4. Getting outside
It can be hard to get yourself to get up and go outside, whether it’s after a long day at work, or other things feel more pressing and important. But adopting a dog, I now get the chance to get outside and go on walks multiple times per day (even if it sometimes is just to tire him out).
5. You're saving a life
Each year, 1.5 million adoptable dogs and cats are euthanized. That number can be dramatically reduced if more people chose to adopt, as shown in the decrease in euthanized shelter animals since 2011. While you certainly cannot save every animal, you can save a life.
So why not? Change a pets life while changing your own for the better.