Our Sweet Casper

When I moved from an apartment to a house in the fall of 2005, I immediately starting looking for a dog to adopt from one of the local rescue groups. Casper with SDR caught my eye, and not just because of his cute face. His description said he would "need a home that can give him a little extra love" - I thought, I've got extra love to give! The first time I held him he was shaking with fright and I knew he was the one for me...a little boy who needed to be shown that humans can be kind and loving.

It took him about 3 weeks for his first bark, and then one morning he was rooting around in the sheets of the bed and I knew he was starting to feel comfortable. Leaves blowing across a sidewalk and people approaching him too quickly took a little longer to get over. Over the course of a few months, he really came out of his shell and what a sweet, gentle, loving personality he has! He has fully accepted my husband into his life, though each night Casper first curls up next to me, reminding his Daddy that was in my life first :) He's now living the life all dogs should: snoozes on the couch, belly rubs, walks in the park and of course, lots of yummy treats.

Casper brings so much happiness into our lives, and he also opened my eyes to the horrific world of puppy mills. Though he has made tremendous progress in becoming a "normal" dog, I think some of the horrors from his former life must still haunt him as certain noises and shadows make him tremble. Such awful, awful places puppy mills are!

Casper definitely changed our lives for the better. My husband and I have since adopted another wonderful puppy mill rescue and we are now a doggy foster home. Casper inspired us to raise awareness about puppy mills and I make drives to Iowa, South Dakota etc to pick up recently rescued dogs, just like Casper.

Our Sweet Casper is not about 11 years and I can see that the quickness in his step is slowing but each night when I get home from work, I get a greeting that melts my heart. Thanks you SDR for rescuing Casper and bringing him into my life. He has truly changed my world and I will not stop the fight against puppy mills until they're gone!

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