I had been reluctant to get a dog since I had bad experiences with them when I was young. A few weeks ago, however, a pom-chi mix tugged at my heartstrings to the extent that I felt compelled to adopt him.

He had been a stray for a while until he turned up at the county animal shelter. A rescue organization came to his aid just in time to save him. He was in pretty bad shape when I saw him a few days later- he has canine pattern baldness (perhaps the reason why his original owners let him stray?), the hair he did have was awfully matted, a bad scar crossed his head, and his demeanor was awfully timid.

I wanted to give him a better life, but it turns out he has given me more joy than I could ever have imagined. He picked up some bad habits that we are working on, but every day with him is more special than the last.

Robert from GA