Dog Picks Out New Playmate At Shelter

The adorable shelter pup Liza wasn’t rescued from the streets, but she was actually born in the shelter. Sadly, her mom didn’t have anyone that cared for her as she helplessly roamed the streets during her pregnancy.

However, at one point, animal rescuers were able to take the pregnant mommy dog in and care for her and her pups.

All of the four-footers were constantly struggling at first, and the shelter staff wasn’t too sure that they’d make it. They stayed strong, and slowly but surely, they all started improving. Fast forward a couple of months and these canines were fully healed and incredibly energetic.

Liza was one of those pups, and she was adopted by Debi Kolak when she reached the young age of just 13 weeks old.

The pup instantly fell comfortable in her new forever home, and she found a huge friend in Debi’s other canine, Mona. These two were truly inseparable and would have all sorts of adventures together, but then fate struck. Mona tragically passed away. The poor pup died unexpectedly, leaving a huge void in the house.

Liza lost her friend and her smile that day, and she’s been extremely lonely ever since.

In the meantime, Debi’s home situation had changed. She recently moved in with her boyfriend, who wasn’t exactly alone. He already had two older dogs, Jack Russells. The couple then hoped that Liza would feel less lonely with these other two four-footers around, but the three of them didn’t really get along.

The older pups didn’t make much of an effort to befriend her. Debi thinks that Liza was too energetic and playful for them, and given the age difference, she might be right.

Debi then started to entertain the idea of having an additional playmate around for Liza.

Even though a fourth dog in the house would probably be too much for Debi and her boyfriend to handle, the couple kept thinking about this idea. Despite the drawbacks and hesitations, they ultimately decided that the benefit of having a playmate for lonely Liza would outweigh the extra care and costs.

Debi then took Liza to the animal shelter one day to see if there was a pup that she could get along with really well. After meeting a few four-footers, Liza’s spirits were instantly lifted when she met Murphy.

Murphy definitely wasn’t the happiest, healthiest or most popular pup in the shelter – quite the contrary, in fact.

Murphy had already spent five months in the shelter and was one of the older residents. He was adopted by a couple of families in the meantime, but he has been returned by the families three times. Murphy himself seemed to have lost all hope – until he met Liza.

You could say that these two pups saved each other.

“Murphy was sad … defeated-looking,” Debi recalls in an interview with The Dodo. “He had a large scar on his head. He didn’t bark or run to the cage. He just sat there, pressed against the chain link of his tiny kennel. I sat on the floor, put my hand up to the fence and talked to him. He nibbled at my finger and barely thumped his tail. I immediately thought, ‘There is no way this guy is a match.’ But I was drawn to his pitiful face.”

It seemed as if both Murphy’s and Liza’s worries all disappeared when they first laid eyes on each other. Debi immediately knew it: Murphy was meant to come home with them.

“Liza and Murphy had an instant connection. He rolled belly-up for her and then the game was on! They ran and frolicked for almost an hour, never once showing aggression and matching each other’s playfulness. I knew he was the one, and Liza knew he was the one.”

Debi’s boyfriend still needed some convincing because he felt that bringing another pet into the home might be a bit too much after all.

However, when he saw a video of Liza and Murphy hanging around together and having fun, he immediately agreed to adopt Murphy.

“He and Liza both whined for each other as they took him away. I called Joel when I left and talked to him about it and he said, ‘Well, you can’t just leave him! Go back!’ So I did!”

It was adamantly clear that Murphy was thrilled to spend some more time with Liza. And he gets along with Debi and her boyfriend too: he even licked her face when she drove him home as a token of appreciation, affection, and love. As for Liza, she had a huge smile on her face the entire ride back home. It doesn’t get much sweeter than this.

“In just a few short days of having him home, I can’t understand how no one would give this dog a chance, he is amazing,” Debi concluded.

Because Murphy had already spent so much time at the shelter, the staff made the adoption permanent at no charge at all. They even generously provided the couple with free transition training classes as well.

What an adorable duo!

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Article Sources:

The Dodo

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By Jonathan Maes

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Jonathan Maes is a contributing writer at Shareably. He can be reached at [email protected].