From "Dog Tales: Hundreds of Heartwarming, Face-Licking, Tail-Wagging Tales About Dogs," by Hundreds of Heads Books.

WE FOUND MONTY AT A SHELTER in a small cage with a beagle. My husband took him out and placed him on the floor, and it was love at first sight. Not that “isn’t-he-so- cute; Golden-Retriever-puppy” kind of love. It was more like the “he’s scrawny, sad-looking, and has a really bad shave” kind of love. My first thought was that he was a little ugly. But I just couldn’t keep my heart from melting. I like the Charlie Brown Christmas trees and the bumpiest, misshapen pumpkins, so it only makes sense that I would love that flea-ridden mutt.
—BETH BROWN
CINCINNATI, OHIO

WE WERE SMITTEN WITH OUR DOG, LULU, the second we saw her. We’d noticed a sign painted on a cardboard box saying that Labrador puppies were for sale, and we went to the house to pick one out. Lulu clambered over all of her sleeping siblings to jump into our hands, and we just had to take her home. However, we soon realized the error of our ways; she didn’t sleep for about two years!
—MARISKA VAN AALST
EMMAUS, PENNSYLVANIA

DO NOT GO TO A SHELTER unless you are ready to get a dog because you will fall in love. When we got mine, we weren’t looking for a dog but we saw a black lab with a tag that said “Not good with children. Not housebroken.” But the dog just looked at us, head cocked to one side. We took him out to play and he was great with my 10-year-old niece. We think the previous owners just wrote that as an excuse to get rid of him. So when we heard, “This guy will be put down tomorrow,” I was like “No, he’s not.” We brought him home.
—KARL
NORRISTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA

I WAS LEAVING FOR WORK ONE MORNING during a thunderstorm. I saw this drenched dog in my front yard, shaking like a leaf. I started talking to him; I had no idea
if he was vicious or not. My neighbor said the dog had been around the neighborhood so I figured he must live nearby and would eventually go home. He wouldn’t stop following me as I was trying to leave, so I went in the house and got a biscuit. While he was busy chomping, I drove away. As I approached an intersection, I glanced in my rearview mirror: There was this dog tearing after my car! I had to put this wet, yucky animal in my car and drive back home. I just fell in love.
—KATHY GERMANA
FARMINGVILLE, NEW YORK

MY WIFE FOUND A RHODESIAN RIDGEBACK in an animal shelter through the Internet. He had two broken legs and mange, and had to have multiple eye surgeries. I thought it might be a bad idea to adopt him, but we’ve had Mr. Robinson for about five years now and he’s a good dog.
—PATRICK WALKER
HENDERSON, KENTUCKY

MY MOTHER DECIDED TO GET this fancy dog: a Borzoi, or Russian Wolfhound. I thought she was crazy. I’m not the biggest dog person to begin with, but if you’re going to get a dog, I figured, you should get it from the pound. So she paid $500 for this dog, and my brother and I gave her hell for it. But I’m in love with this dog. He’s amazing: so sweet, with a personality that’s from another world, like a unicorn or something. The dog is basically mine as much as hers now; I have him all the time. And while I still think the noble thing is to go to the pound, I understand that some breeds have exactly what someone wants, and that some people need to go for that.
—B.R.
ATLANTA, GEORGIA

HAVE YOU EVER SEEN THE MOVIE “Funny Farm” with Chevy Chase? He buys a dog he names Yellow Dog that runs away as soon as he brings him home. The same thing happened to me. We bought this Collie from a friend and as soon as we let him out of the car he bolted. He was found on the other side of town two days later. We were lucky because we didn’t even have ID tags on him yet. We figured we had time for that. Put the tags on the dog as soon as you get it. You just can’t be too safe.
—JANE TABACHKA
GREEN MOUNT, VIRGINIA

MY HUSBAND AND I WENT TO THE POUND one day to pick out our first dog, but it turned out that the dog would be the one doing the choosing. The shelter had picked up three puppies that had been left on the side of the highway. Just as my husband and I were sizing them up, one stumbled over to me and licked my toes, which were sticking out of my sandals. I fell in love with her, took her home and named her Tobi. I’ve always wondered what perils poor Tobi had been through before being picked up, but I know that she has had a good life ever since. And she’s still licking my toes.
—BARBARA LAVALETTE
RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA

WE PICKED UP OUR SEVEN-MONTH-OLD PUP and prepared for the one-hour ride home. Within two minutes she threw up inside the car, and again twice more. The whining was incessant; she could not be held, would not stay in her carrying case, and absolutely could not calm down. Classical music did not help. My husband, who after much urging had agreed to get a dog, looked at me with the worst, “I told you so” eyes and we rode home in silence, between whines.
—JENNIFER KRAMER
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA