In the meantime, Donna has a stray German Shepherd in her car, so she took the dog home with her, knowing full well how her husband was going to react. You see, Donna had a habit – which she calls a bad habit, (and I say, you do you, Donna!) of bringing home strays. And she had promised her husband that she’d sto. She comes into the house, and says, “I couldn’t just let this dog get hit on the streets! I’m trying to get her into a shelter tonight. I know we can’t keep her.” Her husband kind of rolled his eyes and said whatever. Ironically, he freaking LOVES German Shepherds, like, it’s his dream dog. But they already had three older dogs that did not do well getting introduced to this new friend. Animal control eventually called back and said they couldn’t take her until after the weekend, so, Donna and her husband just had to juggle their dogs and this new dog around so they wouldn’t be fighting all the time.
Donna took to Facebook to all the neighborhood lost and found pet pages and saw no one was claiming this beautiful, young German Shepherd. Someone named Penny commented that she ran a rescue and would have space to take her in a day or so. So that was the plan. A couple of days later, Donna cried all the way to the rescue but knew she was doing the right thing.
The dog didn’t have a microchip, but eventually, the owner reached out to Penny, letting her know that they didn’t want the dog anymore. Saying she was too hyper, too much work, and asked Penny to just adopt her out. Penny contacted Donna to give her the update and ask one more time if she was sure she didn’t want to adopt the dog because they already seemed so bonded. Donna went to her husband and the conversation went south immediately. He refused to even entertain the idea of bringing this dog home, even for another trial run, knowing that Penny would always take her back if things didn’t work out. Donna and her husband are planning on retiring soon, and when they do, they want to travel. So adding basically a puppy to their lives was just not a good idea to him.
Donna was devastated. She was bawling and angry, and her husband totally shut down, ignoring her and she was incredibly upset. She took her pillow and went to sleep in the guest room for the night because she just could not get over the fact that her husband wasn’t even giving this dog a chance! He eventually came to find her and Donna yelled at him that even though she didn’t want another dog, this seemed meant to be and he wasn’t even giving it a thought! That’s when her husband tossed his phone onto the guest bed for her to look at. He had contacted Penny and made arrangements to leave work early the following day to pick up the dog to surprise Donna.
Donna said that Marley, now their German Shepherd forever, was meant to be. Just a few weeks after Marley moved in for good, Zoey, Donna’s golden retriever, woke up and couldn’t walk. She was over 15 years old and they made the difficult decision to end her pain after the vet told them there was nothing for them to do. Donna thinks that god or the universe or something out there knew how hard it would be to lose Zoey, and sent Marley in to be not ever a replacement, but a good, healthy distraction from the loss. Marley and Donna’s husband are now inseparable. Duh, that’s what always happens, and Donna is just back up. Her husband always tells people that he let Donna keep Marley because he thought she’d divorce him just to keep the dog, even though she swears she was just going to sleep in the guest room to cool off for the night.
And get this, Donna now volunteers at the rescue that Penny runs! It’s called All Dogs Rescue and is located in Franklinton, Louisiana. They’ve saved and adopted out over 175 in the past 18 months and if you’re in the area, looking for a new best friend or a rescue to volunteer with, be sure to check them out.
