6 years ago today we adopted our little pup, unica! we'd been together a year and a half by that summer, and i'd just returned from my year abroad in spain. neither of us were allowed to have animals in the houses we were renting. we decided one summer day to volunteer at the flagstaff humane society and walk the dogs. there we found a skinny, sad, half-dead mama mutt with big brown eyes who'd just had babies. there was a note on her cage saying she'd been abandoned, then rescued from the navajo reservation near chinle, az, and had led her rescuer to a place where she'd just had pups.
her pups were being adopted like crazy but luke and i only had eyes for her. we tried to walk her around the property but she was terrified of us and kept trying to hide under cars. we pet her and tried to comfort her, then returned her to her cage and puppies and left.
we called to check on her the next weekend and we were told they would be putting her down in the next hour! we raced over and and adopted her without any plan. Luckily, we were able to hide her at luke's for awhile until we negotiated a deal with my landlord.
her doctor told us that by looking at her teeth she was probably 2-4 years old. so we decided on 3. and now that makes her 9 (give or take a year). we also found out she's been shot and still has bb gun bullets inside of her. and she's been hit by a car. she's a total survivor.
since then, she has been the perfect addition to our family. mellow and easy and super adaptable. she's accompanied us on hikes up mountains, bike rides around flag, countless trips to the grand canyon (her favorite national park, btw), a move to puerto rico where the airlines lost her for 48 hours in nyc, a year in the island heat and humidity, another move to arizona, a few kayak trips, another move to michigan where she's survived 2 midwest winters and now is coping with our new addition to the family. plus all the mundane hours in between hanging out at home. she's been amazing and we have been so blessed by her in our lives.
ok, enough writing about her. now we're off to take her on a we-love-you-it's-your-birthday walk, followed by a we-love-you-have-a-second-dinner treat.
her pups were being adopted like crazy but luke and i only had eyes for her. we tried to walk her around the property but she was terrified of us and kept trying to hide under cars. we pet her and tried to comfort her, then returned her to her cage and puppies and left.
we called to check on her the next weekend and we were told they would be putting her down in the next hour! we raced over and and adopted her without any plan. Luckily, we were able to hide her at luke's for awhile until we negotiated a deal with my landlord.
her doctor told us that by looking at her teeth she was probably 2-4 years old. so we decided on 3. and now that makes her 9 (give or take a year). we also found out she's been shot and still has bb gun bullets inside of her. and she's been hit by a car. she's a total survivor.
since then, she has been the perfect addition to our family. mellow and easy and super adaptable. she's accompanied us on hikes up mountains, bike rides around flag, countless trips to the grand canyon (her favorite national park, btw), a move to puerto rico where the airlines lost her for 48 hours in nyc, a year in the island heat and humidity, another move to arizona, a few kayak trips, another move to michigan where she's survived 2 midwest winters and now is coping with our new addition to the family. plus all the mundane hours in between hanging out at home. she's been amazing and we have been so blessed by her in our lives.
ok, enough writing about her. now we're off to take her on a we-love-you-it's-your-birthday walk, followed by a we-love-you-have-a-second-dinner treat.
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