09/04/2026
RUSTY’s Gotcha Day! We aren’t crying, you are… grab the tissues but KNOW it’s happy tears.
Some dogs are worth the work and just need that right family to find them. Rusty had everything stacked against him and try as we might we were worried we were going to fail him. He came in a street stray that was human fearful floating on the edge of human and dog reactive. Not an easy fit for a small kennel/foster based rescue. I will be honest we were discussing humane euthanasia as it was no way for him to live AND HE HAD BEEN WITH US WELL OVER A YEAR.
Enter Bre and Ben. They ramped up his people time and helped him to accept more, want more and feel safe. Then they fell in love over their months volunteering and with their experience with behavior needs we were so excited. We all took it slow and just this past month Rusty became an official family member.
“Okay, my affection for Rusty is too much lol. I have my post but it’s long. I even consolidated it multiple times 🤣 Let me know if it’s too long and I’ll work on it some more: Ben and I started volunteering with Recycle Best Friends in November, and honestly… I didn’t even notice Rusty at first. He was just the little, scared dog who ran away from us. However, we decided we would foster RBF’s longest-standing resident once we moved in to a house of our own. The foster would be joining our two senior dogs, Jax and Callie.
That resident ended up being Rusty. Due to him being especially afraid of men, every Friday we volunteered, Ben would take him for a walk. Week after week, month after month, Rusty saw the same two people showing up for him. Eventually, he stopped running away. Then he even started getting excited to see us!
I began taking Rusty and his RBF buddy Toby on field trips to Lakeshore Park and Sequoyah Hills. At this time, we new Rusty would be our foster. In February, we bought our house, giving us the opportunity to bring him home, but due to not moving in right away, we continued to prep and prepare. We slowly introduced him to Jax and Callie. Rusty was NOT impressed. 😂 He was overwhelmed by these two new, larger dogs and absolutely lost his mind during the first meeting. With Director Beth beside us, we got Rusty to settle, and from there, Rusty went on walks with Jax and Callie every weekend for three months. At first, he avoided them if they came too close. As time progressed, they were walking together, sniffing the same things, and Rusty didn't run away. It was a tiny step. But those tiny steps were everything.
Somewhere along the way, our plan changed. During one of our outings, Ben looked at me and said, "No one is going to give Rusty the life that we can give him.” We had planned to foster him. Instead, we decided to adopt him. On April 26th, after months of preparation, we finally brought all three dogs home together. We had baby gates, separate spaces, constant supervision, and a plan. And then night one happened. It did NOT go as planned. 😂
Rusty was terrified being in a half-acre backyard at night and decided our 70-pound male bully mix, Jax, absolutely did not belong there. He lashed out at Jax in an attempt to protect himself. Thankfully, Jax is incredibly docile, and we were right there to intervene. That could have been the moment we decided, "This isn't going to work.” Instead, we realized something much more important:
Rusty wasn't a bad dog. We had simply asked him to handle more than he was ready for.
So we slowed down. We carried Rusty into shared spaces to reduce tension or stress between the dogs. We supervised constantly. We separated them when we couldn't. And we slowly increased his freedom as they showed us they were ready.
There were bumps along the way. He was figuring out where he belonged. Sometimes he avoided Callie. Other times, he picked on Jax. 😂 But as Rusty felt safer—with us, in our home, and with his new siblings—he became a different dog. Today, he copies everything his big brother does, wrestles with Callie, patrols the backyard announcing every squirrel and rabbit, and has discovered that blackberries, plums, and bell peppers are pretty great.
He's learning how to play. He's learning how to be a dog. He's learning that life can actually be fun and safe. Four months after coming home, Rusty is thriving. ❤️ But he isn't "perfect" because all of his challenges disappeared. He still needs training. He's reactive on walks. He can still be afraid of strangers. We're still helping him build confidence. And that's okay.
The dogs have earned our trust and now can be completely unsupervised together. An achievement at times I didn’t know if it could ever be possible. We still use baby gates and separate feeding areas—not because we've had problems, but because management helps keep everyone successful. And to this day, these dogs have never been in a fight. That didn't happen by accident. It happened because we took the time to know our dogs, understand Rusty, respect their boundaries, and give them more freedom as they showed us they were ready.
We weren't the "obvious" home for Rusty. We had a 70-pound male dog, an alpha female, and a man in the home—all things that made Rusty nervous. 😂
But we knew our dogs. We knew their personalities. And we were committed to giving Rusty the structure and space he needed. It wasn't easy. It required work, and there was even a moment when we wondered if we'd made the wrong decision, and weren’t actually who Rusty needed. What I have learned through this, is Rusty also didn’t need perfection; he needed someone willing to take a chance on him. Someone willing to be patient. Someone willing to invest the time and energy to help him understand that he was finally home. And now we're reaping the reward! We have the sweetest, snuggliest, perfect Little Dog who has completely woven himself into our family. ❤️
Take a chance on a rescue dog.
But do it wisely. Know your dogs. Give everyone time. Set them up for success. And understand that a rescue dog may need more from you than a dog who has never experienced fear, instability, or loss. The first day isn't the finish line. Sometimes the dog you meet at the shelter isn't the dog you're going to have six months from now. Sometimes they just need someone willing to wait long enough to meet the dog underneath the fear.
A dear friend once told me:
“Dogs are in the rescue whether you are helping them or not."
So come help the next one.
Happy Gotcha Day, Rusty. 🐾❤️
We are so lucky you found us.”
Bree and Ben, proud parents of three special pups. RBF Volunteers, friends, family.
