Name: Nahla - 4 y/o (birthday is June 20th)
Family Members: Sara & John, other dogs are Fancy and Swayze (toy poodles)
How long has Nahla been in the family? Nahla has been with us for a year and a half now. We met her a week before our honeymoon cruise back in November 2016. My husband and I couldn’t stop thinking about her the whole time we were in the Bahamas! We were supposed to pick her up a week after we got back but her owners had an emergency so we drove up the day after we got home and the rest is history!
Professions: Sara- Graphic Designer, John - Refrigeration Technician
Location: Winder, GA.
Nicknames: Heifer, Baby Girl
5 words/phrases that best describe Nahla?
- Cuddle Bug
- Bed Hog
- Stealer of Covers
- Gentle
- House Hippo
What makes Nahla unique? Nahla is extremely vocal! Not in the annoying bark all the time way
but a mumble/whine under her breath. The first night we had her we tried to make her sleep in her bed because her previous owners told us she slept on the floor. At the time my husband did not want dogs in the bed because he thought it was gross (hahaha that didn’t
last long!), so we made her sleep on the floor next to us. We laid there for maybe 5 minutes before she walked over to my husbands side of the bed and made this whining/grumble sound. We tried not to laugh because it was so exaggerated and we tried to ignore it thinking
she would go back to bed. Nope. Not happening. She then walked over to my side of the bed, got right next to my head, and groaned again. Pretty much saying “Hey… so dad won’t let me in the bed so I’m gonna sit here and express my concerns till you let me in the
bed with you.” Well you can probably guess who won that argument… Heifer hopped in the bed and slept between us all night. Now my husband can’t sleep unless she’s in the bed cuddling with him. (I secretly knew he’d cave!)
She's all about that ball!
Rescue Story: Shortly after we got married my husband and I decided to open our
hearts to another dog. I was looking on Craigslist and shelter sites for an older dog because we really didn’t want to go through the puppy stage again and stumbled across Nahla’s picture. I messaged her owner and we talked for hours! I knew she had a loving family and was spoiled rotten. I later found out why they could not keep her and it broke my heart. Her previous owners had a 9 month old baby who was born with an entire chamber of his heart missing so
he was in the hospital for months on end. They had to travel to Boston for his open heart surgery and other procedures and would stay for several weeks at a time. They felt it wasn’t fair to her with them being gone so much and decided to re-home her. What drew me
to Nahla was how gentle and loving she was with their son. She never ran in the house when the baby was in the room and acted like a nanny to him. I knew right then and there she was the dog for us. When we met her I was completely smitten! To this day we still talk
to and hang out with her previous family and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Her previous owner said they couldn’t have picked a better family for her to live with. We spoil her rotten because to us she is our child, not just a dog.
Heading to her forever home!
What is your favorite pastime as a family? I would have to say our favorite thing to do with
Nahla is camping and going to the park. This girl LIVES for the water! In the summer we take her to Fort Yargo State Park and her favorite thing to do is play fetch in the lake. She will go and go till she passes out if I let her. After she’s good and worn out Nahla climbs in my hammock with me while her dad fishes. She’s the perfect balance of active and cuddle bug.
What is life like since you rescued Nahla? AWESOME! Like no joke this dog has changed our lives! We’re more active as a family and it’s all because of Nahla. She fits perfectly with our other two dogs and it’s the cutest thing watching her play with her 8 pound brother. They love to play tug-o-war which usually turns into Nahla dragging Swayze around on the floor as she
carries the toy to her bed.
Photographers Note: Sara chose a beautiful setting for our photo shoot, Tribble Mill Park. There was a nice big field (complete with purple flowers) for Nahla to show off her ball skills and then we took a short walk to a river with some amazing smooth rocks all around, a photographers dream for sure. I have to say this girl is very well trained and a rock star poser.....so between capturing her athletic abilities which is always fun and challenging for me; and just her regular poses, I took over 300 pictures of this one dog and her family! Whoops! Makes the decision process a tough one!
It sounds like this girl hit the jackpot twice in her life, her first family who loved her and wanted to do right by her, and her family now who just continued with the love and the spoiling without skipping a beat! She is one lucky girl! If you want to follow her adventures her Instagram account is: @house_hippo