Pet of the Month: Summer of Palatine, IL

The story of this little puppy is one that I was personally involved in, but I only met her a few weeks ago....

My childhood best friend got married in early 2019. They had been considering a puppy from the get go and several months after they closed on their new house they decided they were ready. This was March of 2020, which, as well all know, changed everyone's life.

However, they were both put on working virtually and were home all the time. So they decided, why not? They weren't working nearly as many hours as before AND they were working from home! So they began the hunt for a puppy. Now, anyone who knows me know that I always push for adopting adult dogs, however this was working for them! They wanted to put in the work and after many conversations they stuck by what they wanted, they wanted a puppy. Preferably a corgi mix, but not a requirement. Any little mutt would do really. So they applied online for almost every shelter/rescue in the area and spent hours on Petfinder looking for puppies.

Several months into the pandemic now, many others had already had the same idea. There were puppies, but by the time the shelters and rescues got back to them the small breed puppies had been scooped up. They did this for about two months without any luck.

As June approached they had a trip planned to Nashville to visit me, and we all thought 'Great! They'll definitely get a puppy further south!" So they came down and we spent several days spending time together, we went out to eat (At the like 2 restaurants that were open at the time) and we had beers outside on the lawn. We were just relaxing. We also went to animals shelters. More than one. And none of them had puppies. Not a single puppy was in sight.

My friends were devastated. They had been searching for over three months and we were living in this crazy alternate universe where there were no puppies for adoption. I begged them not to give up and told them I'd keep looking. They promised they wouldn't and headed back to Illinois, empty handed.

Now I know this girl, she has watched me rescue animals for over a decade and seen the homelessness that happens for dogs. But she wasn't able to adopt!! I held onto hope and crossed my fingers that they wouldn't head to a breeder.

And they didn't! In fact, just a few weeks after their trip to Nashville, they came across a littler of puppies that had been available for adoption, and not just any littler, but a litter of Corgi mixes! They immediately reached out and the shelter got back to them to say that of all the puppies, only ONE was left. They asked if they wanted to meet her. Of course they did!

Two days later they hopped in the car and went to go meet a puppy. And just like that, all the months of waiting were worth it.

Adopted on the summer solstice, they dubbed their new girl "Summer". Summer is a gorgeous all black corgi mix with radar like ears, a long wiggly body and a total sweetheart.

Good girl Summer. We are all so happy you guys found each other.