The Underdog Diaries

Ready for a #ThrowbackThursday?! This week on The Underdog Diaries we are featuring HANNAH and her mama, Amanda! Hannah was one of the first dogs TLRD saved back in May of 2012 . One of the main reasons we thought of Hannah when starting this project was because 1. we've had the pleasure of watching Hannah grow up over the years on Instagram 2. Amanda adopted Hannah when she was only 24 years old . And if we're being honest, we don't usually adopt bully breeds to the younger crowd anymore because the return rate is almost 100%. So, we wanted to celebrate Amanda and all the hard work she had to put in with Hannah at such a young age. Hannah wasn't perfect and Amanda knew that from the beginning, but she never gave up. In fact, Amanda and her husband recently adopted a puppy from TLRD, which wouldn't have been possible with Hannah a few years ago. Hannah is a great dog because her owners are great! Even though it's been 8 years, we asked Amanda a few questions abo

This week we have a VERY special underdog to feature... JESSE! We call Jesse and her Mom, Kristin, our cheerleading captains because that's what they are! Jesse is our little mascot and Kristin is always there to cheer us on and hype us up no matter what the occasion is. TLRD rescued Jesse 5 years ago. She was a scruffy little 3-month-old puppy who was extremely sick with  parvo and pneumonia. She was also born without nasal passages making it difficult for her to breathe.  Kristin and her family adopted Jesse at 6-months-old in June of 2015. They cared for Jesse through multiple setbacks and 5 surgeries to improve her breathing. These surgeries are where she got her famous underbite from (seriously, she was on TV for her underbite). Today, the McDaniel family now has a pack of 3 rescue dogs and Kristin is apart of our senior team. When Kristin isn't busy teaching, she is advocating for underdogs like Jesse on social media and teaching her two kids to be confident pack leaders.

This week on The Underdog Diaries...IVY! TLRD rescued Ivy – an adorable 6-year-old American Staffordshire terrier – and her 7 puppies back in September of 2017.  On January 8th, 2018, Ivy found her forever home, the Opdyke family.  We are SO excited to share a little bit of their story with you because we've literally watched the Opdyke family put in the work with Ivy. We've had the pleasure of watching her mama, Cindi, blossom into an incredible pack leader for Ivy while battling cancer. Cindi is a true inspiration as a dog owner and we're beyond thankful she agreed to share how it's been going since they took Ivy home two years ago. What were some of the challenges you faced when you first brought Ivy home? How to handle her over excitement for other dogs. And what were some of the rewards once you adjusted to those challenges? Seeing her love for meeting new dogs. What's something unique about Ivy's personality? Her unconditional love for everyone she meets

If you've been following us for awhile then oh boy do you know the story of TURBO! But if you're new around here, grab a box of tissues and make sure to check out the video linked at the end. The cliff notes of Turbo's rescue story: In March of 2018, Turbo came to us at 4-months-old after being hit by a car. His two back legs were paralyzed and he had a big pressure sore on his bottom/hip from sitting too long and dragging his legs around. Despite his trauma and difficulty getting around, Turbo was the HAPPIEST boy. Acting no different than your average 4-month-old puppy.  We took Turbo to one vet who said he should probably just be euthanized – the surgeries and challenges won't be worth it. His fosters, Tanya and Ted, refused to give up on Turbo and we agreed. This boy deserved a chance. We found another vet who saw how special Turbo was and believed it was possible for him to live a happy life – it will take some time, but he will heal. Eventually, we had to amputate

Welcome to The Underdog Diaries – TLRD’s newest blog series. Let’s start with a little background of why this series came about… While we consider every rescue dog to be an underdog in some way, there are some that have to fight an extra battle or two. The seniors, the mamas, those with special needs, the bully breeds, the medical cases, and those that don’t get along with other pets. In other words, they have to fight a little harder to find their forever homes. However, these characteristics don’t make them less deserving of a forever home. If anything, and to TLRD especially, these dogs are more badass. Our team has always described ourselves as a group of misfits rescuing a bunch of misfits. It’s what we know and love. But, we realize not everyone sees this side and knows how special the underdogs can be. Thus, The Underdog Diaries was born – to feature and share special stories about the dogs who had a harder time finding a forever home.  We’re kickin’ this series off w