Live Laugh Love: "Dogs are babies wearing FUR coats!"

For anyone that knows me, knows I have a deep passion for dogs. I love them no matter what size, shape, or color. Growing up we always had a dog. The two that I remember the most were Beethoven (miniature yorkshire terrior) and Dixie (full blood FAT lab). Beethoven passed away at an old age the week before my freshman year of college. Dixie is still being fat and lazy at my parents house in Greenwood. I'm not being mean when I call her fat, she might be the fattest dog in all the world. She loves Shorty... she follows him around everywhere he goes and when I say everywhere, I mean EVERYWHERE. Hunting, fishing, work anywhere he would let her go, she went. Due to her size and age she now just mostly sticks at the house being lazy and she really enjoys sunbathing on a nice day.

After I moved to Jackson, I started thinking about getting a dog. My friend Sara Kate and I found an abandoned kitten in the parking garage at work. We decided to take the kitten up to the local shelter in town called CARA. CARA is a no kill animal shelter mostly working off of donations alone. After much thought about getting a dog of my own I decided to visit CARA. I went on a Friday all by myself and walked around CARA looking at all the happy dogs. It was amazing to see how most of the dogs were so happy despite the cage they were in and their awful past. When I first walked in the GIGANTIC room with all the barking dogs saying "PICK ME, PICK ME" I noticed this precious little baby just sleeping away. She was completely black except a few tan spots on her feet, stomach and face, her belly was so bloated from all the worms...She look like a little pot belly pig. I decided to keep looking and finish the tour. My mind just kept going back to that little black and tan pot billy pig look alike. After the tour and falling in love with each and every dog and their stories as to how they got to CARA, I went with my heart and got "Raven." CARA names all their dogs and Raven is what they named my pot belly pig. At this time I was staying with my sister and brother-n-law, when I got home Britt and I started thinking of new names. I wanted something unique.... DELTA! Fits me and her perfectly! I was born and raised in Greenwood and she just had the personality of a DELTA!

Here are a few pics of Delta from when I got her until now.

(they uploaded backwards so the puppy pictures are at the end)

She looks SO different from her puppy pictures. I got Delta March '09 and in June '09 an email staring going around at work about this black lab mix puppy. "Buddy" wondered up at a former co-workers home and was bone thin but as happy as could be. The lady who had sent the email to everyone asking if anyone wanted him had called local vets and shelters asking if anyone was missing their dog. After a month of no luck finding the owner she decided to ask if anyone wanted him. They were unable to keep him due to the fact of their two small kids and her husbands allergies. This email just sat in my mind and would not go away. I wanted to help "Buddy." Zach was not to fond of the idea but I just new that it was the BEST idea ever! I decided to get "Buddy" and bring him home while Zach was away for the weekend. Zach comes home on Sunday and.... SURPRISE!!!! He was not too happy at first but he quickly loved "Buddy" and we started to think of a new name for him. So we came up with DUKE! We call Duke "Darkness" because there isn't an inch on him that isn't black. Duke and Delta took about a day to warm up to each other and have been best buds since.

I don't have puppy pics of Duke. But here are a few pics of him.