Name/Age: Luna - 2.5-ish y/o
Family Members: Ashley & Joe
How long has Luna been in the family? Around 1.5 years
Professions: Ashley & Joe are both CPA’s
Location: Atlanta, GA.
Nicknames: Lun-o (my 3-year old niece started calling her that), Luna The Destroyer, Luna Tuna
5 words/phrases that best describe Luna?
Sweet
Smart
Clown
Ball Thief
Kangaroo
What makes Luna unique? I don’t think she has ever met a stranger. She loves almost everyone she has ever met, and walks right up and leans on them or sits on their feet if they give her attention. She is a clown, and there has not been a day since we have had her that she does not make me laugh. She is so smart – we have taught her several tricks, like jumping into a box on command, sitting on a small stool like a circus lion, and shaking both left and right hands. Give her some snacks and work with her for a few minutes, and she can learn anything. She also seems to have springs in her back legs and can jump super high, leaping over other dogs at the dog park, flying through the door to jump on the bed, or just jumping straight in the air to get her tug rope from your hand. I love watching people who do not know her watch her jump for the first time.
Gliding through the air with the greatest of ease!
Rescue Story: I had to make the difficult decision to say goodbye to my 15 year old Dachshund, Denver, in February 2017. He was my first dog ever, and was lucky to spend 11 of his 15 years together. It was so hard watching him grow old and say goodbye that I swore that I would never have another dog.
Fast forward to August 2017, I organized a service project for my office at Lifeline Animal Project, and was paired with a beautiful gray bully for a walk around the block. By the time we got back, I realized that there was a dog shaped hole in my heart. Pretty soon after, we started the process of looking for a dog. We searched Petfinder for about a month looking for “our” dog. We wanted a young, medium sized dog that could potentially be a running partner for Joe, no specific breed or gender in mind. Knowing so many wonderfully bullies from some of my gym friends, I was open to a bully or bully mix. We kept going back to Luna’s profile – something about this “hound mix” just spoke to us and I had a feeling that she was meant to be our dog. We contacted Homeless Pet Foundation to arrange a meeting. She walked up to us at a Saturday adoption event at a PetSmart and sat right in my lap. I was immediately in love, and we took her home that day.
We were told that she was an owner surrender, and that her previous family was ill and could no longer care for her. She had been in the shelter for about 3 weeks, and had recently been spayed.
This my forever home now?
What is your favorite pastime as a family? We love to take Luna on adventures. She can frequently be found on the patio at Rev Coffee on weekend mornings, followed by a few rounds of fetch at a nearby dog park. We take her to breweries and restaurants to sit on the patio so she can chew a water buffalo horn and get scratches from strangers. She is also an amazing cuddler and always down for a Netflix binge.
What is life like since you rescued Luna? I was not exactly prepared for her energy level – a one-year old dog is fully grown, right? I never had dogs growing up, and my only previous dog was older when I adopted him, and generally low-key. She was very calm and gentle her first few days, but she very quickly got comfortable and let her personality shine, and destroyed all of the toys that she had previously been so gentle with. She gnawed her harness off in her crate. She somehow managed to get the crate liner pan out of her crate and bending the frame without getting herself out. She was super mouthy, but only with me, and only on my hands – I had a lot of bruises the first few weeks. I also had fights with her every morning while I was getting ready for work – she would steal each item of clothing and I had to chase her around the house to get my sweater back. Joe is more of the disciplinarian – even dogs we meet out in public, whose owners claim their dog does not know how to sit will sit for him. She seemed to know not to try these shenanigans with him. I was the pushover who was just so happy to have some floppy ears to pet that I let her get away with anything.
We quickly enrolled her in basic obedience classes through K-9 Coach and started sending her to playcare a few days a week to help her work on socialization and manners, and work off some of her crazy puppy energy. She passed her AKC Canine Good Citizen exam (barely – she never quite got the hang of leash walking on a collar). That process really helped us all to bond and helped channel her energy into something more productive than stealing clothes and pulverizing DVD player remotes. And now she is a lot older, and her energy level is still high, but has calmed down quite a bit.
Through the last almost year and a half, we have really had to adjust our schedules to make sure that we are giving her enough attention and exercise. We are both CPAs, so several months of the year, we work very long hours. We have a schedule set of who is working from home on the evenings (which has actually been really helpful for us as well), when she is going to playcare, who is responsible for feeding. We don’t plan on having any human children, but basically treat Luna like she is one. She fits into our lives so well that as long as a place is dog-friendly, we bring her with us. It’s taken some work and patience to get this far, but I am so happy that we have her in our lives. She has definitely been worth the work and adjustment, and I cannot imagine our lives without her.
Photographers Note: I met up with Luna, Ashley & Joe at the Atlanta Polo Fields in Vinings. My second time at this location for a photo shoot. It was a warm day but the space was perfect for Luna to show off her ball skills and drain a little of that energy that was mentioned above. I will say I did get to witness all the hardwork that has been put into her training as well as her leaping skills (see below). She was such a good girl, even with horses and other distractions around. One of the many things about Luna that I love, is when you look at her you for sure see hound in there but then from the back, her little body is all bully! An adorable combo for sure! Another amazing family that determined what was best for their family member and adjusted accordingly to ensure everyone is living happily forever after!
I believe I can fly…..