Occasionally I’ll check the foster role at Best Friend’s NWA, mainly to see if there are any senior dogs needing a temporary home. After bringing Daisy Mae and Lacey into my life three years ago, there’s a very soft spot in my heart for older dogs.

Most of the time I don’t see any older dogs, instead it’s mainly puppies needing homes. And don’t get me wrong, puppies are cute. However, I didn’t have kids for a reason. I’m not patient and I most definitely don’t like to clean up pee and poop. (This was confirmed with our emergency foster, Button, who was with us during the extreme cold snap. Cute as a button, he was also a lot of work.)

I did notice one dog, a three year old, who had a note that caught my interest. “Bunny recently gave birth and needs a calm place to recover.” I thought, “Hey, that sounds like our house,” and moved on with my day. I was packing to go to Santa Fe, New Mexico for a content making trip for Osprey Packs and definitely wasn’t planning on fostering a dog anytime soon.

Fast forward five days, I’m sitting in the high desert sun in Santa Fe, New Mexico passing the time before my flight, aimlessly scrolling instagram. A story from Best Friends NWA caught my eye - a cute black dog with the kindest eyes I’d ever seen named Bunny was in need of a foster home.

Bunny still needed a home.

I texted my contact and told her I was interested in meeting Bunny, but that we’d need to ensure her and Daisy Mae got along.  So the next day, Daisy Mae and Bunny were introduced in the play yard at Best Friends gorgeous new Bentonville facility. After some initial sniffs, the dogs were getting along fine, although admittedly, they were (and still are) largely ambivalent of each other.

Bunny came home with us that day and I was blown away by how skittish this poor girl was. She had clearly been through something and was fearful of humans, cars, loud noises - basically her own shadow.

We started to built trust with each other and slowly, she warmed up to me. By the end of the first night, she allowed me to pet her and even ventured onto the couch to sit next to me.

I will never forget the butt wags on her first morning with us.  She was so excited to see me and wanted all the pets. It felt like the biggest affirmation that this was a good thing, and she was not afraid to show it.

By night two, she was full on cuddling with me and it was then that I realized, Bunny was meant to be with us.

For the last three weeks, Bunny has had pretty extensive medical procedures every Friday requiring a full-day stay at the clinic. She had 10 teeth extracted, was spayed, and received her first heartworm treatment. Incredibly, all of this care has been provided at Best Friends NWA at zero cost.

Each time I went to pick her up from the vet after an initial hesitation, the butt wag was back. And I’m not going to lie - it felt good to bring her home too.

So it’s not surprising that on Friday, after yet another all-day medical treatment, we made it official. Bunny is now officially a Blonsky.

As part of her adoption, I got access to all of her medical records and spent a bit of time looking through them tonight. And what I found was horrifying.

On her initial intake on February 7th, Bunny was noted as emaciated, weighing only 50 pounds. She had over 100 ticks, a smashed left jaw including damaged teeth, and she tested positive for both heartworms and ehrlichia, a tick-borne disease. I also learned that Bunny had ten puppies, eight of whom died shortly after being born. Her two remaining pups are nearly ready for their own adoptions, which is very exciting.

Reading that, it all made sense why Bunny is the way she is. She’s had to fight to survive and nothing has come easy.

I feel so lucky to have her in my life. We’re adjusting to being a family of three and I even caught Daisy Mae and Bunny snuggling together the other day.

We’ve still got a bumpy road ahead of us, as she finishes her heartworm treatment and together we learn some obedience skills. I’m hopeful that we’ve got a bright future ahead of us and can’t wait to see where we end up.