October is Adopt-A-Shelter Dog Month

Most people are well aware of the traditional association between breast cancer awareness and October. There are plenty of ways to support it out there. What most people are not aware of is that there are other causes that ask for support as well. One of those causes is Adopt-A-Shelter-Dog month.

I've always been a proponent of the "adopt, don't shop" philosophy. There are so many good dogs in shelters that need homes. The first dog we ever had as a family was adopted. We got her when my daughter who is now 14 years old was only about 15 months old. There was an adoption event in June of 2002 near where we were living at the time and we took our kids to see what the shelters and rescues had to offer. Nala, a golden retriever mix, had been rescued by a Labrador and Retriever rescue. When they found her, she was so matted they had to shave her from her collar to the tip of the tail, although they left a little tuft at the end like a lion.

It was love at first sight. She was very submissive to my kids, they said she was potty trained and even knew some basic commands. We filled out the paperwork and took her home right away. We stopped at a booth that was engraving dog tags (which turned out to be a smart move, aparently she was a jumper) and took her home. When my daughter woke up from her nap I brought her downstairs. Before she even saw her, my daughter heard the jingle of her tags on her collar and her face lit up. "Dog? Dog? Dog?", she said. That's when I knew without any doubt that we made the right decision.

Nala was a member of our family for the next decade. In her later years she went to live with my mother-in-law who needed the companionship of a low energy dog. She passed away a few years ago but she filled many needs in our family. She was a stress reliever, she was a playmate, she cleaned underneath the high chair very well, she was a companion to my family. She was a foster mom to a puppy we adopted from my old boss, whose lifestyle would not allow for a puppy (a story for another time). She was family and she made our lives better. 

I thought for a while about how I can help the cause and bring awareness. It is in loving memory of Nala and all shelter dogs like her that I am pleased to annouce a limited edition T-Shirt and Hoodie through teespring. The shirt reads "Dogs represent everything that is good in Man" which I believe is a fitting sentiment. In addition to sentiment and awareness, 20% of all purchases will go to help a local dogs in need.