As a veterinary technician I always had a huge heart for animals, but it wasn’t until I got Arlo, until I really understood what it was like to care for my own pet. He was my first fur-baby. The responsibility that came with owning my kitten was a lot to take in, the vaccines, making sure he was safe, what to feed him, but the best part was watching him grow. It was all so surreal and warming being his fur-mama! He is my soul cat (he is litereally me in a cat’s body). When Arlo got a little bit older I decided to bring home another stray kitten, Millie, who was found on the street, somewhere in Quakertown. I figured 2 kittens would be good to even each other out and have someone with the same energy to play with.
Millie & Arlo
Almost a year later, a stray was brought into the clinic I worked at, who was so sweet and it didn’t take much for me to fall in love with him. Unfortunately for me, I have a HUGE heart for long haired tabby cats, but fortunately for him I couldn’t help but give him a home too!
Tarzan
When we moved into our house together, we brought my 3 cats with, making them “our” pets. They were nervous at first but they came to love their big open house! Growing up I’ve always had dogs to come home to and it was weird to not come home to one greeting me at the door. Don’t get me wrong! My cat’s would greet me and keep me busy between scooping cat litter, feedings and general adjustment to the new home. But I really wanted to get a dog. So I tried to convince my boyfriend that:
“we NEEDED a dog”.
While he was content with the 3 fur-kids we already had, I started to look for a dog. He really wanted a golden retriever. He grew up with them and always thought they were really good dogs. Me, on the other hand, wanted anything that woofed and had 4 legs! We really wanted to rescue a dog, so I compromised and I went all over the internet looking at golden retriever rescues, and just browsing other rescue websites hoping to come across one that needed a home. After a while, I thought it would be impossible to rescue a golden retriever as they are in such high demand and they truly are good dogs! Who would want to get rid of one??
More looking went on but we started to talk about other breeds we would be interested in until I came across a post and there was no need for further discussion!
Because… there was Max!
Immediately, I sent the lady a message and tried to explain the best I could about us, our home and our life.
I even sent her a picture of the yard to really try to convince her that we were a perfect fit for his new home! There were already so many other inquiries on him I was trying everything I could for us to stand out against the others.
She eventually got back to us, making sure that we weren’t a rescue, or looking to foster as she wanted him to go directly into a new, loving, home. After some time, once our schedules matched up, we were able to go meet Mr. Max.
I was soooo excited!! I went out and bought a little cow stuffed, squeaker toy, to take with us on our meet up!
We met at a local dog park and instantly locked eyes on him. THERE HE WAS. Jumping all over the place, super excited and full of energy.
While talking to the previous owner, she stated that Max was her 5th child that simply wasn’t getting the attention that he needed. We talked with her for a while about his history and how he grew up. We played with Max and walked him around on his leash until she stated that we seemed like a good fit and told us we could adopt him that day!! Low and behold, shortly after..
He was in OUR car, coming home!
BUT we were not prepared! We expected the meet to go well but we did not expect to be taking him home that moment. We had no dog food, no toys, no dog bowls…. all we had was his old leash, collar, him and the little stuffed cow I brought to meet him with. Needless to say, we made a stop to the pet store for all of the supplies (and some extra toys)!
We got him home, let him check out his new yard and played with him some more until we decided to introduce him to the 3 musketeers inside. He had been around kids and other dogs but never cats, and us having 3 already, this was a big deal. The cats had grown up with other dogs so I wasn’t to concerned about them.
Upon entering the house…
Max didn’t seem to know what steps were!
Immediately when you walk into our home, you are greeted to a flight of stairs that leads up to the main living floor of the house. Max sat at the bottom of the steps staring at us like he was stuck at the bottom! He looked excited like he wanted to come up but just couldn’t!
“How does a 65 pound dog not know how to climb stairs??”
We tried treats and praise but nothing worked. We had to teach him how to go up the steps by holding his butt up and guiding him to the top! It took him a few times but eventually he was a pro at stair climbing! He met the cats, who all were afraid of him in the beginning, after all, they had been living alone for the past several months. I took some time but eventually everyone became okay with each other.
Once Max was all settled in, family came over to meet him, and we took welcome home pictures with our new fur-baby!
I decided to send a picture of us with Max to the previous owner and give her an update on how he was doing!
FLASH FORWARD A YEAR AND A HALF
We now have a very spoiled, playful, fun, happy, boy to share our life adventures with!
Christmas Morning 2020 
FUN FACT: I bet you wouldn’t believe me when if I told you I didn’t love him right away. Right? Well it’s the truth! I remember feeling so guilty that I didn’t LOVE him like I was supposed to. I mean yes I pretty much love almost any animal I lay eyes on but I didn’t love him as my own. He simply didn’t feel like mine. I felt like I just went and picked up someone else’s dog to dog-sit for a while.
It took MONTHS!!
It took months and finally it clicked. HE WAS MINE and I LOVED him! The way he followed me around and how excited he got when I came home, he finally accepted me to be his new mama and, boy, was I up for that challenge! Now he is my favorite walking partner, errand runner, and cuddle buddy! He is so much fun and has way to much love to give.
November 9th: We celebrated his 1st gotcha day with cupcakes and friends!
2020
and we ALWAYS get Christmas pictures!
Most of all we are just truly grateful to have him in our lives. He is exactly what we needed/wanted and couldn’t ask for anything more. He is a special boy who stole our hearts!
I really could not have asked for a better companion to adopt. Max is our first dog since being on our own and he definitely came with a lot to learn. Food, grooming, vet bills. It’s different then just having cats. We now have to make sure we have a dog sitter when we leave, we can’t be out to long because we have to worry about letting the dog out to go potty. He came with a lot of added responsibility but I wouldn’t change it for the world. He is our world (along with our kitties of course).
His story is one of my favorites to tell because I still can’t believe how we got so lucky to adopt such a handsome golden retriever!
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Raven's Nest 
He looks like such a happy boy! He is in the perfect home. I also have a pretty good idea that it didn’t take too long to convince Matt he NEEDED a dog just as much as you!!
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