Adopting Hadley

The main reason I decided to become a dog mom was because this past year has been tough and full of challenges for me. While trying to cope with those challenges, I developed some anxiety problems. With my anxiety I started to feel increasingly lonely and not like myself. There were days where I couldn't get out of bed because there was too much that I didn't want to deal with. It got to the point where I was having intense anxiety attacks and couldn't function in my normal life. I am someone who has always felt happiness when I am nurturing and taking care of someone else, so I decided adopting a dog might help me feel happier and get back to normal. 

Every year my work hosts an event on the property called Wags To Whiskers with the Humane Society. They always bring up a bunch of rescues from Texas and have on site adoptions, so I decided I would adopt a dog at the event. Luckily, because my boss helps plan the event with the Humane Society, I was able to have first pick of any dog there before the event opened. 

I got to the event grounds at 9:30 am, 2 hours before the event started. When I arrived at the adoption tent they were just about to take the dogs out of the van and put them into the cages. When I was looking at each available dog, a saw a little 2 month old black spaniel mix with a white chest named Boo. She was the only dog there that wasn't barking and she kept staring at me. I walked over to her and she started to get excited and was licking my fingers through her cage opening. I opened the cage and picked her up. She immediately licked my face, rested her head on my shoulder, and relaxed. I instantly fell in love and knew I was taking this little girl home with me. 

Once I finished filling out her adoption paperwork, I had to go to work. I had already made arrangements with my boss to keep her in the office for the day so she wouldn't be alone and everyone was so excited to meet her. She was so good all day long. She just played with her toys, laid in her bed, and kissed anyone that walked in. She was such a snuggle bug!

I decided I didn't like the name Boo, it was too cutesy and didn't fit her personality. After about 5 hours of brainstorming names with my coworkers we narrowed it down to 2 names: Pinot (my favorite type of wine is Pinot Noir) and Hadley. I finally decided Hadley was the name because it really suits her. I call her Hads for short.

Once my shift at work was over, I brought Hadley home and we spent time playing and getting her comfortable in her new home, which didn't take very long. On her first night she slept in my bed with me. She really made herself comfortable with her body on my pillow and her head on my face and we have slept like that every night since. 

Hadley has really come out of her shell and made herself comfortable with me. Since I adopted her I have felt less lonely, much happier, and like my normal self. Knowing that I have her to come home to every day makes me so happy and my heart is so full. I never thought I would love her as much as I do and I think she needed me just as much as I needed her.

Here are some photos from her first day with me!