Name/Age: Booker - Roughly 2 y/o
Family Members: Rusty & Heather
How long has Booker been in the family ? 10 months
Professions: High School Teachers
Location: Dahlonega, GA.
Nicknames: Bookie Baby or Bookie Monster, depending on his mood.
5 words/phrases that best describe Booker?
Expressive
Lover
Athletic
Cuddler
Thick
What makes Booker unique? He’s fast friends with any and everyone
Quick break between throws.
Rescue Story: After being a family of 4 (2 humans and 2 basset hounds) for 14 years, we spent 2 years as a family of two (after saying goodbye to both fur babies). We were waiting to heal and for the perfect moment to adopt again. We are both teachers, so we agreed that summer would be the perfect time to adopt and give him/her time to adjust with us home 100% of the time. Little did we know the country was about to go into a lockdown! A good friend had been tagging me in adoption agencies, and I spent one night scrolling through over 800 photos of available dogs, narrowing it down to maybe 20 who I thought would be a good fit for us. My husband told me that if our school system made the call to go virtual, we would leave the next morning to adopt. Within hours, the county sent out the official email, and my husband looked at me and said, “Let’s go get a baby.” I legitimately washed my hair, did my makeup and put on an outfit, and we drove to Fulton County Animal Shelter. Separately, we made laps looking at every dog. As soon as I saw “Rocco,” my heart melted. I started and ended at him, and met my husband there to compare notes. He asked me which dog I wanted to visit with first, and I was speechless. I knew I wanted “Rocco,” but I truly thought my husband would think he was way too large for us and our home. His chart said he weighed 70 pounds already! Since I couldn’t really speak, he told me that he wanted to start with “Rocco.” Already, it was meant to be. Once the volunteer brought him into the meet and greet area and closed the gate, “Rocco” promptly crawled into our laps wagging his tail and licking our faces. He never left. We got that baby and are now a family of three: Heather, Rusty and Booker.
Going home as a forever family of 3!
What is your favorite pastime as a family? Booker is the first dog we have ever had who genuinely loves to be by our side at all times. This means we open the front door, and he runs to the side door of the truck to go for a ride. This has allowed us to take him to stores, vacations, breweries, dog parks and family gatherings. If these don’t count as past times, I will say our favorite moment of every day is when we ask Booker if he is ready to go get into the “big bed,” he runs to the bedroom, jumps on the bed and waits for us to get in and turn the lights off. He lays down in the middle of us with his head on the pillow and drifts off to dream with his family.
What is life like since you rescued Booker? We are so happy!! We now have zero storage on our phones due to pictures and videos. We stalk the doggie camera to basically confirm that he is peacefully sleeping in all different crazy positions on both the couch and the loveseat. We make decisions about where to go and what to do around who approves of us showing up with (what is now) our 85 pound pit bull. And we buy all of the bandanas we can find to add to his collection and change them out every few days.
Social Media: Instagram @bookers_adventure
Photographers Notes: I met up with Rusty, Heather & Booker at one of the High Schools where they teach. It was a beautiful brisk sunny day and Booker had the run of a soccer field. Booker is a big handsome boy, that is the first thing I thought when I got out of my car and saw him. Then you give him about a minute and his sweet goofy personality is on full display. The fact that he has only been with his family for 10 months was surprising to me. He is so well behaved and wants to be right with his people at all times. I just loved when he would need to take a little break from chasing the ball and try to get on my lap for some kisses. Heather tried to stop him and I believe my response was “Are you kidding? This is my payment” LOL My dogs may not appreciate it when I get home but I LOVE it!