THE RESCUE CREW - Happy Tails: Adoption Stories

Kira.

1/23/2025

We adopted Kira the second we met her and are so happy we did - we love having her as part of our family! She is so much fun. Kira loves hanging out in our bathrooms! She’s growing so much and has the softest fur ever! Thank you so much for bringing her into our lives!

- Samantha, Kira's Mom

Penny.

1/3/2025

After adopting Penny one year ago, she quickly filled a gap in our little family. She created a such a strong bond with our pitty and they have been inseparable sisters ever since. Her cuddles can warm the heart and ease the stress of anyone that comes into our home. Her favorite things are camping trips, hikes, exploring every inch of her backyard, playing with her sister, and naps on the couch with mom. We are so grateful for the Rescue Crew and her amazing foster family for bringing her into our lives!

Tiki.

12/10/2024

We picked up Tiki on August 17. She was about 4 months old and had just completed a journey from Texas. She quickly settled into another 4 hour trip to our home in Lutsen. Within a day, she and our 2 year old pup were playing and sharing a bed. Tiki has the sweetest disposition of any dog I have met. She and her sister do get into fits but generally Tiki prefers to cuddle. Now that she is getting bigger (8 months old and just under 30 lbs) she struggles to fit on my lap in my office chair but that doesn't keep her from trying. Now that we have snow, we have put on our snow shoes to pack down paths in the yard as Tiki and Daisy love to chase each other. We are very grateful to the rescue teams who brought Tiki to us.

Nigel and his Chair Nugget...

8/28/2024

We adopted Nigel to give our dog, Nugget, a new little brother after two of our oldest dogs passed away. He has been a fantastic addition to our family and has bonded with Nugget beautifully! Nugget has become Nigel’s favorite chair and the two have become inseparable! The adoption process was a simple and pleasurable experience and we would not hesitate to do it again.🐾

--Adoptive Dad Matt

Sagwa... the Perfect Cat for Me.

8/22/2024

I adopted Spaghetti in Fall of 2020 and she’s been the best thing to ever happen to me. I renamed her Sagwa and she’s the silliest, speediest, sweetest cat ever. Everyone who meets her instantly falls in love with her. She’s very popular with my friends. They say her face is very squishy and her meows sounds like when you pull a zipper really fast (we call them "zipper meows").Sagwa is very chatty and loves getting her face scratched. She loves to sit next to me and lean on me whether in bed or on the couch. When I first got her she was a bit skiddish. She was comfortable enough with me where she wasn’t scared of me but it took some time to build her trust. Sagwa has always slept in my bed with me since day 1 but she started in the bottom corner of the bed. Now, almost 4 years later, I fall asleep to her snuggled up next to my legs or head and wake up to her little face looking back at me. She went from bolting out of a room when I entered to following me everywhere I go. She has come out of her shell so much and every day she becomes more and more snuggly. I’ll never forget the first time she layed on my chest after our first year together. I had left for a trip and it was the first time I would be without her after adopting her. When I got back she was so happy and snuggly. For the first few nights after coming home she layed on my chest at night as if to say “you’re not going anywhere ever again.” Now it’s a regular thing for Sagwa to do. She’s a very spoiled cat! She has lots of toys, she has a cozy cat tree by the window, and gets treats often! Everyone comments on how sweet and happy she is. Even the vet says she’s the most well behaved tri colored cat she’s ever met! Shes the perfect cat. I could go on and on about how wonderful she is and how much joy she brings into my life. I love her so much!

From Kaylie, Saga's mom.

Sadie, the 50 Pound Lapdog.

8/1/2024

Our sweet Sadie was found on a reservation with her pups searching for any scraps she could find. When she was first rescued her absolute favorite thing was napping on any comfy surface she could find. Now, this is still her favorite activity😂. One of her other favorite things is dressing up! The first Halloween we had with her I got her a costume, and then second I put it on her she wouldn’t let me take it off! She also thinks of herself as a lap dog, despite being 50 pounds, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m so grateful she came to us when she did and can’t believe how lucky we got!

Winter is a Ray of Sunshine.

7/13/2024

Winter came over to meet & greet us a year ago and we shared an immediate connection! I'm so grateful to her foster mom, Brook, for patching her up for ~6 months prior from her wounds caused by emaciation, mange, animal bites and gosh knows what else. Thanks to her training and nursing Winter back to health (and representing Rescue Crew so well!), Winter is an AMAZING dog for our little family, she is well-behaved, etc. It helps that Winnie has an incredibly high IQ/EQ for a dog. Ron and I agree she's definitely top 5 dog in smarts of any we've met (for me, she's number one by a landslide, but Ron's a wildlife biologist and has come across some pretty danged smart animals in his experience).

Since that lovely fateful day of Winter coming to meet us (and making sure she gave me a long "hug", which is putting her weight in her lean against my leg, before we said good-bye that day), our love and bond for her has only grown. She has been SUCH A GOOD GIRL and it is our aim to make her short dog-life as good as it possibly can be! She deserves all the good things and some days I get emotional imagining what she must have endured before her time here and it motivates me to try to do the things that will only increase her happiness. One of those is for Ron and I to work from home. Both of us are able to and I'm so incredibly grateful because Winnie hates to be by herself. We're considering getting her a brother or sister (dog), but the right one hasn't quite yet come across our radar. Plus, I wonder if she would be annoyed at sharing loves and snuggles! I think she likes being the only child. We call it "potato" time, when both "mom" and "dad" pet her, like those potato batteries. Why have one person pet you when TWO could do it? haha "Dad" is also training her to be a detector dog at his environmental consulting company. She LOVES to play "Find It"!! Not a day goes by that I'm not incredibly grateful and happy we added her to our family. She is WONDERFUL and one of the top highlights of my entire life. She's my baby girl and I wouldn't trade her for anything.

Meet Thalia, My Cherished Companion.

4/30/2024

Thalia wasn't the cat I had in mind initially, but when she descended from her perch, yowling, and headbutted my hand, everything changed. Her insatiable curiosity and knack for mischief meant I had to up the mental stimulation game soon after bringing her home. Now, she's mastered commands like shake and come. Her playful antics are a daily reminder not to sweat the small stuff. Thanks to the Rescue Crew, she's become a cherished companion, growing into a wonderful cat who fills my life with joy ❤️.

--Savannah, Thalia's Mom

Lily has changed our lives for the better...

4/29/2024

Lily has changed our lives for the better, with her sweet, shy, trusting disposition despite her traumatic past. We lost one of our two dogs in February 2023, and our house was changed, and our remaining dog, Charlie (15.5 years old) missed his buddy. When I saw Lily’s story in March 2023, on social media, I simply could not get her out of my mind. Lily came home with us on April 24, 2023. At the time that we brought Lily home, I was in between jobs so I had plenty of time to spend with her as she adjusted to our home. She did not seek attention from us but was brave enough to eat chicken (her favorite) from our hands.

She would not let us hold her, but we could pet her when she was in her bed. She would often stay in her bed, and never barked. It took about 2 months before Lily shared her voice with us. She has a very big, deep bark for such a little girl! Lily likes to spend her days snoozing in her flowery bed; it’s in the middle of our living room, and she likes to observe the action in our home from that spot as well. This was especially true during the holiday when we had a house full of people and two additional dogs visiting. Lily took a special interest in the 70-pound dog that was visiting. She would follow him around the house, and it was fun to watch. She also had a holiday dress that coordinated with Charlie’s sweater. Lily also celebrated her 13th birthday in December. Despite Lily’s shy and timid behavior, she can also be independent and sassy. She likes to explore in the house and search for Charlie’s food. Lily has been able to get more and more comfortable with going to the “spa” for grooming. She now wears sweaters, and even a harness when she goes on walks. These were big milestones for Lily, and she now likes the coziness of a sweater. She also shows this independence when she goes for walks. She likes to lead the walk and she seems to smile as she does! When she first started going on walks with us, she had a disjointed gait. Now she walks with a regular rhythm. Many neighbors love to greet Lily on our walks and they have even commented on her progress. It's hard to believe that a year has gone by since Lily joined our family! She has been a wonderful and loving addition to our family.

--Anne

What Our Hearts & Home Needed.

4/29/2024

Dodger is the second dog my family has had. We weren't sure if we could do it again after losing our lab of 12.5 years. But, when we met Dodge (previously named Tony) we fell in love. When we got him home he was just what our home and hearts needed. We discovered through Embark DNA testing that he is in fact a Doberman-German Shepherd-with a pinch of Rottweiler and a dash of super mutt. A few weeks later we discovered he had a brother, connection through Embark. The best part of finding out he had a brother was that we were able to connect with the original rescuers from Texas. They sent the first "Tiny Tony" video, they loved to learn he had found his forever home, way north of Texas! Since bringing him into our home we discovered what a velcro dog is and have learned that Dobies are super goofy lover dogs who just make you happy. He spent time at K9U learning puppy manners, which just makes him even cuter! When we brought him home he weighed 42 pounds, now a year later he is 85.5 pounds and wants to be a lap dog. Dodger enjoys anything that makes a squeak, but they have to be extremely durable and his favorite treat is an ice cub or two or four, as many as he can convince you to give him. We learned he is not a big fan of winter temps and snow, thankfully this winter was mild! Fun fact, my friend adopted a dog around the same time. Imagine our surprise when we discovered they were both sent to Minnesota on the same trip from Texas!

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