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2006 Adopt-A-Shelter-Dog Month Photo Contest
In honor of Adopt-a-Shelter-Dog Month, this October we put out a call for the most awesome photos of…who else?...the loveable, loyal canine. We were overwhelmed when thousands of entries came rolling in from all across the country—and although our judges had a hard time selecting the best of the best, we are proud to announce the winners here.
Congratulations and four paws up to our top dogs—and a big thank you to all who participated.
Carlie
This is Carlie, a rescued cocker spaniel mix, enjoying the sprinkler on a summer day.
- Laird S. Bevitz, Newtown, PA
Digger
This is Digger, a seven-year-old female golden retriever who lives in Edwards, Colorado.
-John Dakin, Vail, CO
Alex and Schuyler
We found Alex, at front in photo, as a puppy at the Charles County Humane Society in Maryland. Her mom, Baby, was left behind with her litter of puppies when the family who owned them moved. Alex is a shepherd and Lab mix. She turned eight years old this year. Her love for the water was a great surprise, and she’ll often spend hours out swimming and retrieving.
Schuyler is our golden retriever mix. We found him on Petfinder.com just over 2 years ago as a puppy. The people at the King George Animal Rescue League in Virginia shared his tragic story. One of nine puppies, Schuyler was only a week old when his mother was killed by a car. The woman who found the litter needed help in feeding the puppies, and her daughter agreed to take two. But it turned out that feeding 7 puppies was too much for the woman, so she called animal control, which picked up the puppies and put them down. The daughter also thought that feeding two puppies was too much, but called King George Animal Rescue League. One of their members continued to bottle-feed the two pups. One of those puppies was Schuyler.
This year was a learning year for Schuyler. We knew that he liked the water, but we never knew how much. He and Alex stayed in the water half the day when we took our summer trip to Michigan. Schuyler, though, had a surprise for us, when he learned to do something that none of our other dogs would do—swim underwater. He can search out and retrieve toys that sink.
-Fred Delventhal, Clinton, MD
Harley and Brac
Harley, the black-and-white Dalmatian in the photo, was adopted in October 2004 from the Lenoir County SPCA in Kinston, NC. We actually went there to adopt a small brown terrier mix, but he had already been adopted by the time we got there. We then looked at the other dogs who were available, and fell in love with Harley the second we saw him. He was 12 weeks old, and had been turned in by his owner because she felt he played too rough with her 18-month-old son.
Our love for Harley prompted us to become involved with a few Dalmatian rescue groups. One day I came across a website that was dedicated to "lemon" Dalmatians. I shared the site with my daughter, who immediately decided she "just had to have one.” I asked one of the rescue folks who we work with if they had ever seen a "lemon." Much to my surprise, it was not long after that I got an email entitled, "Didn't you say you want one of these?" I opened the email to find a picture of the most adorable eight-week-old "lemon" Dalmatian brothers from Project Zero, a rescue group in Gaffney, SC.
As fate would have it, my daughter had a business trip planned for the upcoming week, just an hour away from Gaffney. When she got there, they asked her to please take both pups...which I think she was planning to do all along.
-Dena DeWeese, Granite Falls, NC
Boru
Here's my dog Boru with his favorite toy.
-Dave Findlay
Yoda
Our dog Yoda is not always an angel, but she looks like one in this photo! She is turning five years old on October 11, the day that we adopted her in 2001 near Sacramento, CA. She is mostly boxer.
-Kelly and Joe Hardy, Richmond, CA
Gizmo
When he was two months old, Gizmo was left at the shelter by a woman who said she had just left an abusive relationship. Gizmo had a broken jaw in two places due to "blunt force trauma," according to the vet. He had to have surgery to repair the jaw, which included removing dead bone and teeth. Because he has no teeth on that side, his tongue always sticks out. Despite what happened to him, it did not break his spirit. He is the most well-behaved, loving dog we've ever had.
-Susan and Mitch Maxwell, Cheyenne, WY
Abby
This is my chocolate Lab, Abby. I got her in Canton, from a nice family trying to find her a home. She's now three years old and is my best friend.
-Jared Moseley, Dallas, TX
Bailey
Bailey is a Beagle. He was born around March 2005, and we rescued him from North Shore Animal League in April 2006. He joined our family of three previously adopted cats and two chinchillas. He's the fourth dog we've adopted from shelters. The others have now passed on.
Bailey certainly does liven up our home! He is quite a character.
-Linda and Damon Tsang, Verona, NJ
Lilly
By the time I rescued Lilly this past August, she had been in an outdoor chain link gravel pen in 100-degree temperatures for more than three weeks. No trees or shade anywhere, except a small doghouse she shared with 15 other small dogs. There was a tub of water for drinking, but most of the dogs were IN the tub trying to cool themselves. Lilly’s nails were so long and curled the vet had to cut the curled part with scissors first before using clippers. She was six pounds of skin and bones, and had probably already had two litters of puppies. I’m shocked she did not have fleas, ticks or kennel cough—she was surprisingly very, very healthy, considering the conditions.
Lilly is so HAPPY now! She’s still a little timid and shy, but is adjusting very well. I have another dog I rescued in 2004, a male Jack Russell/Daschund, and he and Lilly are in love! They play and snuggle and groom each other constantly. I work from home, so I am with them all the time. My world revolves around my two rescued babies!
-Mauri Way, Dallas, TX
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