In  2003 I adopted my first rescue dog, her name is Misty.  She was going to be put down

because she growled and  snarled at everyone who crossed her path and no one wanted to adopt a dog like that. When I said I wanted  her, the shelter just looked at me, they warned me, they told me she couldn’t be trusted.  She just looked sad to me. All of her puppies had been adopted and there she sat, scrawny, dirty and miserable.  Just my kind of dog! I got her in the car and home we went.  The first few nights I really thought she was going to bite me. I thought if I were her I would be cautious too.  Her life had been spent in an abusive situation and then she became pregnant and was thrown into a cold cage at a shelter. So there we sat each night I would pet her and give her treats which she often would not even take. She would go to the bathroom on my floor and look at me like I deserved it.  After a few long months and a lot of love she was the best dog in the world and she still is.  She gained twenty pounds and is a beautiful golden retriever mix that goes everywhere with my husband and I.  She lays at my feet as I write this.

Misty is a great example of a dog that would have been put to sleep simply because the first couple years of her life were horrible and she needed to learn to trust again.  There are so many Misty dogs in this world.