Shelter Adoption Success Stories

We adopted Belle as a 12 week old puppy almost 1 1/2 years ago.  She is the best dog ever!  She is so attached to our 6 year old son that she gets upset if he does anything she thinks is dangerous.  She will bark, whine, "talk", and even try to intervene if she does not like what he is doing.  For example we put up a tire swing which is fine as long as our 6 year old is not on it.  If he tries to swing she will put her entire body in the swings path to try and stop it then pull his shirt to get him off the swing.  Our son received a trampoline for Christmas and she spent the next two weeks under it trying to "grab" him anytime he jumped on it.  If he goes outside and leaves her in the house she runs from window to window to watch him while she whines and cries wanting to be with him.  She is an excellent retriever and frisbee player making dramatic jumps and leaps in the air.  I took her to obedience class at 9 months and she learned every command by the third try.  She is so attentive that you don't even have to hold her leash to walk her because she will heel and constantly check back by looking at your face to make sure she is pleasing you.  As a puppy she would sit in my lap in the evenings and on occasion she will crawl into my lap (she is 44 lbs now) and try to curl up like she did as a puppy.  I have always heard if you adopt a shelter dog they will love you forever and in our case it is very true - she has greatly enriched our lives from the moment she arrived.

6/2005

The attached photo is of my nephew, Austin & boston terrier, Chloe.  Chloe was adopted from the Tulsa Animal Shelter thru Petsmart located on 71st St., in Tulsa, OK.  Chloe is his best friend & he loves her dearly.
She sleeps with him every night.  The whole family loves Chloe!  Thank you!!!

Pangy
3/2005

Meet Knop. We adopted this adorable 5-year old mix dog from the shelter in July and the reason we picked him according to my husband was that he "talked" to us begging to take him.  He did not bark or jump, he just sat calmly leaning against the chain link door and made such soft crying noises that I had to sit down to really hear it.  He was so thin I could grab his spine above the belly with one hand and had multiple psycho logical issues: he did not allow our other dog Daisy (3.5 times bigger than Knop) eat her food or any food at all, as all food and water belonged to Knop (he attacked her for it); he closely watched my hand petting his back and under no circumstances would let me scratch his belly.  In just one month the dog had a complete personality change (not to mention a 20% weight gain).  Food is no longer an issue, belly scratching is one of his favorite things to do, and he actually plays with Daisy.  But Knop's absolute favorite thing to do is ride in the car
with his ears flopping in the wind.  He knows exactly all the signs of me or my husband getting ready to go and sits by the door ready to join in, and makes "school runs" with me every morning.  Knop is extremely
intelligent and very easy to train, he outdoes Daisy who graduated from an obedience class (Knop is getting ready to start one next month, not that he needs it :)) My husband is literally in love with Knop (not that
I am far behind) and argues with me about whose side he is going to sleep on :)) .  Knop is "the most awesome dog ever" and we can hardly believe that someone would throw out such a terrific dog. Oh, well, their big
loss--our great gain.

10/2004

If you have adopted from the Tulsa Animal Shelter and would like your 
"adoptee" to be featured on this page, send a photo and story.
Click here to Submit your Shelter Adoption Success Story

Hi! My name is King. As you can see I am a very happy black/sable german shepard. I was staying at the Animal Shelter when I was younger, and being a Big dog, I didn't think I had much of a chance of being adopted. The people at the shelter were great, but I really wanted a family of my own. 

January of 1995, my new parents showed up with their 4 kids. And, out of all the pets at the shelter, THEY CHOSE ME!! It has been great! I live out in the country with a fenced in yard that is huge! I can run and jump, and roll around in the grass. My new dad even made me a doggie door into the shed so that I can go inside out of the rain and cold wind. I even use it to hide, I still don't like loud noises like fire works and guns. 

My new family has been so great. All 4 of the kids have grown up and moved out now. And I am getting on in years. But as you can see, I should have several more good years left to just take it easy and lounge around the yard. I think a good Brushing is my absolute, most favorite thing in all the world right now. My parents do a lot of things outside, and I like to interrupt them by leaning on them till someone brushes me. I will stand still all day long, as long as they don't stop. 

Well, that is my story. I hope that you will consider a larger dog, if you have the room, we really do make great pets. 

The Corman Family
1/2004

Paris is the best dog in the whole world! I can't believe someone failed to give her the right care she deserved. Thank goodness I found her though. When I got her from the shelter she was sick and the vet thought she had distemper. The vet and I decided not to put her down and see what happened. Turns out, it was not distemper and she has made a 100% recovery. 

She is very smart and absolutely beautiful! People often have a misconception that shelter dogs are all mutts and bad dogs. Not true! She is a purebred gorgeous lab. The shelter has purebreds and mixes, most of which are wonderful dogs--they just haven't been given a fair chance.

Paris has a big brother, Max. Together, they share their home with various foster dogs awaiting forever homes--oh yeah, they let me stay here too! I have had such wonderful experiences with shelter dogs and have been able to show others what great dogs come from the shelter. 

Thanks to everyone at the shelter, especially Clark, who helped my little Paris find her forever home.

Julie 
1/04

This is Ruby a Lab Hound mix and she is perfect. At first we thought she might be too big but we are very pleased that we took a chance on a large and older dog. Life would not be the same without her.

Mike
1/2004

Meet Murphy. My husband, Kevin, and I adopted this spunky, one-year-old fawn and white Basset Hound in May of 2003, and now can't imagine life without him. Murphy enjoys lounging around the house (particularly on our living room furniture or our bed), eating (anything that stands still, or at least holds still long enough for his short legs to catch up to it) and "talking" -- not barking, not howling or "baying," but talking. He seems to have a sound for every emotion, and often gets them confused -- sometimes growling means "I want to play," while other times it means "rub my tummy." Murphy loves taking baths, as long as we leave the water running so he can drink from the faucet, and looks forward to riding in the car and going to visit our friends and relatives. When we first adopted Murphy (whose name was then "Mac"), we did so with the understanding that he had something wrong with his left hip -- we were told it was displasia or "something else" that couldn't yet be diagnosed. He continually dragged his back legs, used his back feet to hop like a rabbit, rather than alternating his legs to run, and couldn't even go up and down stairs -- we had to carry him everywhere. He was just so sweet and obviously in need of attention... We couldn't leave him at the shelter knowing that other people would pass him over for a "healthier" dog. So, we brought him home, allowed him to take over the household (and my heart!) and started him on a regimen of glucosimine tablets in hopes of strengthening his hip (we had, by then, been told that he might need hip-replacement surgery in the near future - a $2,500 procedure). But, amazingly, six months later, Murphy rarely drags his legs (usually on when he's been asleep in one position for a long while), climbs on furniture without any help from us (not an easy task in the first place for a dog whose legs are totally disproportionate to his 60-pound body) and even stands on his hind legs to greet us when we come home at night -- he's a totally different dog. I don't know if it's the glucosimine that did it, or the love and attention we've been able to bestow on this sweet creature, but I couldn't be more thankful that we went with the decision our hearts made that day in May, rather than what our minds might have been saying. Adopting a dog from the shelter was the best decision we could have ever made... We got not only a wonderful dog and loyal companion, but a valued member of the family who we wouldn't trade for anything.

Neil & Kevin 
11/2003

This is Jack. Jack is a 1 year old Siamese tabby mix with beautiful blue eyes like my three year old son Alex. Alex picked him out from the shelter at the beginning of the year. They took to each other immediately! Even in the shelter, Jack was so affectionate to Alex and wasn't afraid by all the commotion. I knew our family didn't need a small kitten or puppy, and Jack's good nature and easy going attitude was perfect for us. Now the two are inseparable! Jack spends most of his day chasing Alex around the house.
Thanks Tulsa Animal Shelter for what Alex says as ... "He's my best friend"

Amy 
11/2003

If you have adopted from the Tulsa Animal Shelter and would like your 
"adoptee" to be featured on this page, send a photo and story.
Click here to Submit your Shelter Adoption Success Story