Heartwarming Rescue "Tails" for National Rescue Dog Day

Whether you rescued your dog, they rescued you, or both, who doesn't love reading a heartwarming rescue story? We talked to some of our influencers about their rescue stories to celebrate this year's National Rescue Dog Day, and you won't forget these "tails" anytime soon!

BamBam

"Bam was born with a bilateral cleft lip and cleft palate. Puppies born like this cannot nurse on their mothers and have no chance of survival without human/medical intervention. Bam was surrendered at birth and rescued by @NorCalBullyBreedRescue, where he spent his first several weeks being tube fed around the clock, and in an incubator.

Clefties' lives are fragile, so every day they make it through and grow stronger deserves celebrating.

Our kids had been raising money via lemonade stands to help save puppies like Bam (the rescue runs on donations and every dollar helps!). When our 10-year-old saw a video of Bam at just a few weeks old, she fell in love. She made it her Christmas wish to adopt him…. She wrote an essay on why she NEEDED to adopt him (she made it nearly impossible to say no), and our other two children pooled their money with her to cover a plane ticket to fly across the country to pick him up… Mom flew there and back in 24 hours… and the rest is history!

Bam now lives a happy, healthy life with us and his 2 giant fur siblings. We have to be careful about what Bam eats; as of now, his cleft is no issue for him, and if it becomes an issue surgery is an option. Other than that, he lives just like any other puppy! Rescue matters, no matter how small the pup, no matter the cost." -@Oso_N_Koa

Koda

“In October 2020, we adopted our rescue dog, Koda. We had been looking for a pup to add to the family for a while, and when we saw Koda’s listing we knew he was the one! His rescue name was Dusty, but we thought Koda was a better fit.

Koda was found as a street dog in Yakima, WA. He had recently been attacked by other dogs and was recovering from small facial wounds. He was underweight and scared, but we knew we could nurse him back to health. With the help of his amazing rescue, Koda was neutered and treated for his health issues and got to come home with us on October 17th, his gotcha day!

After a few weeks, Koda’s silly personality opened up. He is such a funny dog— he loves rolling on his back, carrying packages, and is a total foodie. We enjoy hiking and taking him on fun adventures. After his rough start in life, we want to make the most of the rest of his life.” -@OurSeattleTails

Wally

"Two years ago—almost exactly—my husband and I were in China on vacation visiting my dad. Prior to leaving, I had heard about the rescue @BunnysBuddies and signed us up to be flight volunteers to fly three dogs back with us to Boston.

While we were in China, we did a lot of sightseeing before finally meeting up with my dad, and one of the places we went was the Great Wall of China. We saw a few stray dogs here and there and lots of stray cats, but as we were leaving and being hustled into our cab to drive two hours back to our hotel, I saw a dog in a cage in the corner of the parking lot.

From a distance, it looked like a Golden Retriever, so I snapped a quick picture to send to Amanda when we got back to the hotel. The intention of the picture was just because I was in disbelief of what I was seeing. A beautiful dog locked up in a cage. Keep in mind, it was December in the mountains of China and there was snow on the ground—it was freezing.

So I used a map and drew out where I thought we had been. I sent it to Amanda, and the next day she said she found a few people to go and check it out. After a few hours of searching, they found him in the corner of the parking lot covered in snow, with no food, no water, just a crate to sleep on and a horse skull next to him.

They spoke with his former owner and told them that they would like to help and the owner gave up the dog. They soon realized that this was not a Golden Retriever; this dog was huge! He was huge but he was only about 70 pounds.

They got him to a vet, cleaned him up, and my husband and I—while we sat in our hotel room, we’re chatting and both felt as though this was meant to be. This was meant to be our dog. We went through the application process just like everyone else does, and a month later on our first wedding anniversary, we got an email that we were approved.

A month after that, in January, he was ready to fly. They confirmed with the airline that he and another large dog would be able to fly, even though they were so big. But when they got to the airport, the airline denied them on the spot. The flight volunteer made a pivot and spoke with another airline that allowed the dogs to fly.

After almost 48 hours in a small crate, the dogs landed in NYC. We had driven down from Boston to pick him up, and once we picked him up he was covered in 💩.

In the middle of the winter in New England, we drove all the way back from NYC to the Boston area with our windows down freezing our butts off so that our car didn’t smell like poop.

We gave him a tour of the house; we gave him a bath; and we named him Wally after where we found him—the Great Wall. He’s been with us ever since and has experienced so many milestones with us, including being a big brother." -@BabyWallyBear

Cinnamon

"We first met Cinnamon at the Devore Animal Shelter in July 2022; he would stay in the very back of the cage and didn’t get up to meet people when they would come by. When he finally got the courage to approach us, he seemed depressed and distrusting of people. He was labeled to be around 3 years old, but we’d later find out from the vet he was under a year; I think his quiet personality was one of the reasons they labeled him older than he actually was.

The temperature the weekend we saw him was in the 100s and he had a full winter coat. You could tell he was uncomfortable in the SoCal heat. We decided to adopt him and brought him back to the PNW with us; he started opening up to us on the drive back, and we fell head over heels in love with him.

He is not your typical husky; he’s quiet, very laid back, and has a shy personality. We started taking him on hikes when we brought him back, which he instantly fell in love with; it was like he found his passion in life. The mountains brought life to him and helped him to start coming out of his bubble and exploring.

As months went by, we furthered his mountaineering skills, and he’s climbed multiple mountains such as Mt. Adams, Sisters, and is currently training for Mt. Hood.

The only thing he enjoys more than the mountains are eggs, funny enough. When we collect the eggs from our chicken coop he waits patiently for his tribute, and when he gets an egg, he skips around the yard parading his egg to all the other dogs before he eventually cracks and eats it with the utmost joy.

He's one of the best dogs in the world, and we’re so blessed to be his forever home." -@TheGoodHypeOfficial

Phoenix

"Phoenix was the first dog we adopted from the Devore Animal Shelter. We went to find a dog at the shelter to foster, and we found her in the back, and it was love at first sight. She had been there one of the longest times and was covered head to toe in ticks and fleas; her coat was like straw; her teeth had orange plaque on them from eating garbage; and she was severely sick when we picked her up from the vet. So sick, in fact, that she had to stay at the vet's an extra night before she could come home.

After she recovered, we found out she was not only the smartest dog we have ever owned but a complete ball of energy. However, I don’t think we’ve ever fallen in love with a dog that fast before; she’s 100% a Velcro dog and is the sweetest soul you’d ever meet. She loves learning new things, with trick training being one of her favorites, and she also likes to get into all sorts of mischief.

She’s still maturing and is turning 2 this year (we adopted her in 2022), but one day we’d love to make her a therapy dog because of how loving she is; she’s never met a stranger she didn’t like so far. Cool fact is that she learned to surf for the first time trying and has also become a little mountaineering dog, too, as she recently climbed Mt. Adams and did amazing! She also LOVES dog sledding and could honestly run all day if you let her lol.

We thought she was a Border Collie mix because she was SO smart, but after DNA testing her, we found out to our utmost surprise that she’s 100% a long-coated Belgian Malinois. It completely makes sense now.

Although she’s been a huge challenge, I wouldn’t trade her for anything in the world because she’s my whole heart, and adopting her was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made." -@TheGoodHypeOfficial

Turko

"Turko was labeled urgent on the kill list because he was not only an owner surrender but also had behavior problems and a hurt foot. Him being half German Shepherd and half Belgian Malinois made him more likely to be euthanized, so we started calling every rescue we could find until we found one that was willing to take a chance on Turko and us.

When we picked him up from the shelter, he was terrified of people and wouldn’t let us near his crate because he was so very scared. After finding a good vet that was willing to take their time with him, we were finally able to touch him and let him know everything was going to be okay.

We knew going into fostering that he was going to take months to rehabilitate from his past trauma, so we took everything very slow from the start. One of the biggest fears he’s dealt with was his fear of men; it took a couple weeks for him to warm up to our dad and brother, but after warming up to them, he completely fell in love with my dad and snuggles with him every night.

He’s a big handsome boy who loves training and learning new things, but he especially LOVES running, whether it's behind a longboard, sled, or bike. We feel so lucky to be fostering this amazing dog that we adore and will continue to do so until his perfect forever home comes along." -@TheGoodHypeOfficial