Today is Lucky Penny Day and to celebrate this quirky holiday we thought we would share with you (specifically to our new friends) the story on how we found our lucky Penny.

On October 3, 2010, D and I went to our local pet store to pick up a few items for our Golden Retriever – waste bags, some treats, and maybe a toy.  There was an adoption drive going on that day, sponsored by a local rescue outfit.  As we passed by the area where they had set up shop, we noticed the sweetest little creature walking among a group of children.  This little Dachshund caught my husband’s eye, and I suspected that we’d be circling around to see her again.  A few steps down the first aisle, D confirmed my suspicion, declaring, “I’m going back to look at the dog.”  I continued on to gather the items on our list.

When I rounded the corner back to the adoption area, I knew almost immediately that we’d be giving the dog a new home; the look in D’s eyes told me so.  This little girl, originally named Betty Jane by her foster mother, quickly became ‘Penny’ on our drive home; Penny just sounded like it should be her ‘forever’ name.  The agency told us that she had originally been owned by an older lady in the process of retiring and moving, who was not able to care for her dogs any longer.  I don’t know how many foster families Penny had stayed with after having been given up, but her last foster family had wonderful things to say about her. 

Now let’s fast forward to the present…  Penny definitely has her little quirks (like finding her voice now at almost three years of age) but to think of ourselves without her in our lives is unimaginable.  While I’m sure the trials we faced were mild compared to many others, our adoption story is really about pushing ourselves out of comfortable routine, patience, and wanting more than anything to be a second chance for a beautiful, blameless creature that someone else has given up on!

Who do you think is more lucky - you or your dog?