Happy Tails!

	My now wife Amanda had always talked about adopting or rescuing a dog once we were married. Not only were we getting married in May 2010, but she was graduating from Auburn’s Pharmacy School that same month. I knew I had to get her something for both occasions, thus began my search to adopt or rescue a dog for her. I began to visit various internet sites such as craigslist, al.com, ARF, and petfinder searching for her present. After looking into it I realized that rescuing a dog from ARF would be the right thing to do. I found several dogs I was interested in and submitted my information to ARF. I was soon contacted by the Foster Mom of a chocolate lab mix named Rutley that peaked my interest. We soon met at the park and after just a few minutes I knew he was the dog for us. So, on her graduation day (11 days before we wed) I placed a picture of Rutley in an Auburn dog collar and gave it to her. She was in love!!! His Foster Mom was so understanding and generous about the wedding that she held on to him until after we got back from the honeymoon. We have had Rutley 2 months now and he is doing great and so are we. Thanks for all you do at the ARF!! Best Regards, Patrick
Sherry, I just wanted to let you know that Chris, Sam, and I went to PetSmart today and adopted a dog. Her name is Sandy; I think she is a brindle bull dog mix. She was living with her foster mom, Charlotte. She and Sam have been playing all afternoon and we're excited about having here her with us. Thanks for all your help, and all that you guys do at ARF! Ashley
Fritz is so loved by his new family that they included him in their engagement photos!! Way to go, Fritz!!! We are so happy for this sweet guy! Thanks Brittany and Dusty!!
	Hey John, This is Nick and Kayla Moris. Sorry we have not sent any pictures of Carma sooner. These are just a few pictures so you can see how Carma is doing in her home with us. We have noticed that she loves to be center of attention when we are working around the house (you will see the evidence in our raked pile of leaves)!! She is so great and we are thankful to have her loving and happy spirit everyday. Nick and Kayla Moris
Hi Michelle, Just wanted to give you an update on "Dodger." We have renamed him "Huck" and we just love him to pieces. He is a wonderful dog who fits in very well at our household! My husband and I are so lucky to have found him! With much appreciation, Rachel and Chris
Hi! We are the Ebbert family and we adopted Marley in September 2009. When I contacted ARF about adopting a new dog into our family, I gave a list of prerequisites that I thought would be impossible to meet. With our daughter's special needs, as well as her deep rooted love for animals, choosing the right dog was critical. I could not have been happier with the outcome. Marley fit all of our requirements, and then some. I had no idea just how perfect of a fit she would be and what a joy she would add to our family. We couldn't imagine our home without her in it. Marley lives her life now by loving and watching over our seven year old boy/girl twins who adore her. She loves to lounge on the couch with the family and watch tv, and she has a stuffed squeaky raccoon that she takes everywhere with her. She has developed a close bond with our two other pets, a toy poodle mix and a very old cat. They are all buddies now, and the cat definitely keeps her in line. Marley loves to be wherever the kids are, whether that is in the yard playing or in the house playing. If they get hurt, she runs to their aide and checks on them. She is their alarm clock and loves to do her morning wake-ups for school. She understands and knows every single thing we tell her and she is incredibly smart. There is just no better dog than Marley, and we love her tremendously! Thank you, ARF, for bringing Marley into our lives. Sincerely, The Ebberts
	To all at ARF, The Saturday before Valentine's Day, my husband and I adopted Bentley. I just wanted to write and update you on our life since the adoption. Bentley is fully house broken and he can sit, stay, hop on hind legs, and currently learning to roll over. Below are pictures with titles that show off Bentley's growing personality and the love we have for him in our family. This was our first adoption and we have had nothing but positives which has led us to recommended adopting to multiple friends and family. Thank you for all the work you do and the love and care you have for these animals. Loving God's Creation, Kara Owen
My fiance and I adopted Cookie from a family through the efforts of ARF. Cookie’s first family adopted her as a puppy after the vet determined that she was a terrier mix. Well, once she grew to 50 pounds, they realized that the terrier they thought they adopted was a border collie / lab mix and was too big for their household. They gave Cookie to us for adoption with heavy hearts, but we are so happy to have her. Our home would not be the same without our dog with her big, loving personality and highly intelligent disposition. Since Cookie has been with us, she’s hiked, discovered swimming, become a running companion, made friends with the wild bunnies, herded deer, learned how to fetch and pulled me like a sled dog on my roller blades. She’s a nosy neighbor who stands with her front paws on the windowsill so that she can see everything going on outside. Each active day ends with Cookie snuggling up with us and angling for a spot for her head on the pillow. We love our rescue! Josh and Noelle, Loxley AL

2/18/2010 After losing Jake (my first dog) I was incredibly heart broken. I had never known that much pain. My other dog, Stump, was heartbroken as well. We needed a new friend, especially Stump, to help us out of our slump. Stump had quit eating completely and just wanted to sit and look out of the window or sleep. I talked to Michelle Turner about needing a new friend and Mike and I met her Monday evening Nov. 16 at ARF. The few dogs Michelle had mentioned were great but we hadn’t heard of Maggie. As soon as we made the turn to walk down the next row of kennels there she was sad-faced looking up at Mike. It was love at first sight for Mike and maybe Maggie too. Mike was uninterested in looking at the rest of the beautiful babies. I couldn’t coax him from the front of that kennel. So Maggie went home with us! Maggie has been a blessing in so many ways. She is definitely unique and definitely a diva. If the ground is wet you can forget her going outside. And oh that girl is ALWAYS looking for food. I want to thank you guys for helping me find new love. Jake will always be in my heart and it took a while but Maggie (aka Madam Licks-a-lot or Ms Piggy) is there now. And she always will be. Sincerely, Amber Wiggins
	Stella was one of the dogs who lived at the San Souci Rd. house that was raided recently. She was one of 80-something dogs who lived in that house together. Stella was staying at Tammy Morgan's house while Tammy was fostering her. My husband and I had been talking about how we wanted a dog, and as soon as I found out about these dogs my heart went out to them. It just so happens a month later while we were eating dinner at Trolley's Neighborhood Pub, Tammy brought Stella (named "Trolley" at that time) and another sweet dog named Checkers up to the restaurant. When we met Stella, we loved her immediately. Finally around April 1 she was ours! She has really flourished since moving in with us and has grown so much! She was very sick with red mange when she moved in with us, but we have nursed her back to health. She finished her medication a few weeks ago and is doing great! She absolutely loves playing fetch, riding in the car, and running. We take her running with us all the time downtown and she is starting to become a downtown regular! She is the sweetest dog and has completed our happy family! Thank you, Animal Rescue Foundation! -Dan and Angela Anderson
Do you remember me? (how could ANY of us every forget Blue Buddy!!) Hello all, Buddy is doing great here at his new home. I think he missed everyone for the first couple of days, but is finally coming around. He loves to watch TV (animal planet is his fav) and is quite a bed hog.. In the morning he has no problem staying in bed while I'm getting ready for work. He likes to be outside but i believe would trade it in a second to be by my side. He follows my every step. He does this weird things when you pet his nose...it looks like he is smiling. I'm trying to train him to do that on command.. He is very loving and he gets quite jealous when Jason comes home on weekends. I hope ya'll enjoy the pics I sent. Please share them with whomever I have missed. Thanks for all the love and care you guys put towards all the animals....I believe each one you makes a difference in our "special friends"......Thank You ~Crystal~
Josie Lisa Just wanted to send you some pics of our girl! She and Maverick just love to wrestle, so I took some of these in the midst of them playing. Look at the face she makes! It's so cute! She loves to grab onto the other dogs' hind legs and chew on them like she's eating chicken wings. She's so funny. I wish you could see her now. She's completely different from the shy, afraid, and sad looking pup in her kennel. Now she's the one pawing you in the face to give her attention! We just love her. Allison

To ARF volunteers, it is stories like (and many more) that keep us going and give us hope that there is the right family for each and every one of our rescued pets.

If you have adopted a Forever Friend from ARF, send us your story and photos! We love hearing from you!! Click here to email us updates on your adopted pet from ARF.