Snuggling up next to your beloved pet on the couch is what the cold season should be all about. Of course, far from everyone wants to have an animal in their homes and their lives. They think they might be too busy for a pet. Or that taking care of them might be too hard. That’s what they think—at first. But when they finally got the dog, all doubts left their minds and they became lifelong friends.
People are sharing their wholesome stories about their dogs and their loved ones’ pets under the #didntwantadogchallenge hashtag on the Dogspotting Society public Facebook group that has over 1 million members. These stories are bound to improve your mood and make you want to rescue a dog if you don’t already have a best boy or girl at home. Don’t forget to upvote the pics that made you smile the most and scroll down for Bored Panda's insightful interviews about how to make new pets feel right at home and for our chat with a member of the Dogspotting moderator team.
The Dogspotting team confirmed to Bored Panda that it's their community members who are being proactive and creating the wholesome challenges by themselves. When you’re done soaking in all the positive vibes from this list, have a look through our previous posts about people who didn’t want any ‘darn’ canines in their lives but quickly changed their minds right here and here. Oh, and check out our posts about the Dogspotting community here and here.
#1
Storm came to me one late night 10 years ago when a rescue I fostered for called needing an emergency foster. I had been working exclusively with shepherds and knew nothing of huskies. Two fosters had already bailed on her and they were in a pinch. “Take her home and keep her kenneled, she’ll prolly try to eat your cats” she said. “It’s only for one night, as we have an adopter lined up for her tomorrow” she said. I’ve never felt a bond that was more instantaneous. I picked her up at 930 pm and at 9 am I called them and told them to tell the waiting adopter whatever they needed to, but this dog was home. I wasn't looking for a dog, let alone a breed I knew nothing about. But I knew she was mine. In the ten years we had her, she welcomed many many foster dogs (literally hundreds), along with a few cat and kitten fosters. She was perfect, and we made our way to get qualified and start Therapy dog work, visiting hospitals, retirement homes, and teens in crisis. She brought joy to so many.
She didn't walk...she pranced.
She hated dirt, grass, water...anything that would diminish her beautiful, plush fur.
She never met a stranger.
I can still hear her wooo-wooo.
Thank you for reading and getting to know this gem. Part of my heart left with her.
The dog I never asked for, and didn't know how much I needed. She passed last month at 15.5 years. She was indeed....magic.
She didn't walk...she pranced.
She hated dirt, grass, water...anything that would diminish her beautiful, plush fur.
She never met a stranger.
I can still hear her wooo-wooo.
Thank you for reading and getting to know this gem. Part of my heart left with her.
The dog I never asked for, and didn't know how much I needed. She passed last month at 15.5 years. She was indeed....magic.
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323points
#2
My grandpa's dog had passed a few years back and he swore he wouldn't ever get or love another dog again. Long story short.... Delilah is now the love of his life, and they hold hands.
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313points
#3
“Fine, you can bottle feed but you have to promise we are not keeping any of them... “
Meet Jasper, our first bottle baby and my husbands daschund🤣
Meet Jasper, our first bottle baby and my husbands daschund🤣
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271points
A member of the Dogspotting team told Bored Panda that the community has always had similar stories on their page about how some people think they don't want to have a dog in their homes and their lives. "I think its a common experience when you’re in a household of many to have one person who might not be as excited as the others. But dogs usually find a way to melt those hearts pretty quickly. And as we’ve seen on the page, it happens a lot!" they revealed.
The representative of the Dogspotting Headquarters team said that the challenges are mostly started by members of the community. "Most of them based on universal experiences, so many people can interact with one another. Some of the other challenges we’ve seen are #thenandnowchallenge, #whatwasyourdogmistakenforchallenge, #smilingdogchallenge, and #unflatteringdogphotochallenge, just to name a few!"
They also urged anyone who wants to adopt a dog to go for it. "Now is a great time to do it! With so many people working from home, you’ll have more time to bond with your new best friend! Contact local animal rescues and shelters in your area and they’ll be able to help you! We know this year has been very difficult for a lot of our members and the challenges have added a bit of levity for everyone."
#4
My ex told me we weren't having a a dachshund when moving in together, knowing I'd grown up with them since I was 11.
So when he couldn't decide if he wanted to be with me or not, I decided I wasn't going to be just an option.
1 month later I got the house we were getting together and my mum got me the best gift of my life.
My Ralph <3 I'd say I upgraded to a better bearded bloke! What do you guys think? Single and living my best life with my best friend.
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246points
#5
6 years ago my husband went to the shelter and called asking if he could bring this guy home. I was still pretty heartbroken after losing our last dog and wasn't ready yet, but he insisted. Those two were best buds immediately. My husband passed away suddenly 4 years ago, and even though he left behind his big, smelly dog, who doesn't believe in personal space at all, I'm so thankful to have him.❤
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241points
#6
Mom: "What do you think about getting a new puppy?"
Dad: "Absolutely not!"
Mom: *goes and gets pup anyways*
Dad: *comes home to said pup*
A few weeks later...
Mom: "What do you say we give him to the grandkids?"
Dad: "ABSOLUTELY NOT! He’s my little man!!"
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235points
The Dogspotting family is incredibly large. You’ve got your Dogspotting Society public group, their sister site, Dogspotting, the Dogspotting Headquarters page, Dogspoting Media, and even a court page where you can contest bans. It’s not far from the truth to say that the Dogspotting community is a lot like a conglomerate or even a small country. They also have a lot of rules that they enforce, according to The Guardian.
The Dogspotting Society is running a whole bunch of different challenges all at once, not just the ‘Didn’t Want A Dog Challenge,’ so be sure to check them all out.
If you do end up rescuing a dog, you can’t expect them to immediately trust you from day one. Bored Panda spoke about making rescue pets feel comfortable at their new forever homes with ASPCA Adoptions Promotions Manager Kelly DiCicco.
#7
Picture 1: My initial text to my husband.
Picture 2: My husband meeting found puppy.
Picture 3: My husband said “I’ll just go get him a harness so we can walk him” and came home with a Kong harness that I knew was not cheap because I had looked at it for my other dogs and been like “nah, too expensive.” (That’s when I knew we were keeping him.)
Picture 4: Guess who Walker Delwood (that’s what my husband named him) loves more than anyone (even though I’m the one who stopped traffic and rescued him out of the middle of the road)? Yep. My husband. They’re BFFs. (I’m ok with it because I have two other dogs and they love me the most.)
Picture 2: My husband meeting found puppy.
Picture 3: My husband said “I’ll just go get him a harness so we can walk him” and came home with a Kong harness that I knew was not cheap because I had looked at it for my other dogs and been like “nah, too expensive.” (That’s when I knew we were keeping him.)
Picture 4: Guess who Walker Delwood (that’s what my husband named him) loves more than anyone (even though I’m the one who stopped traffic and rescued him out of the middle of the road)? Yep. My husband. They’re BFFs. (I’m ok with it because I have two other dogs and they love me the most.)
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214points
#8
When we got married he was adamant about not having dogs ever. I begged and begged, and he agreed that I adopt a GSD puppy from the shelter. That was the beginning. Fast forward 31 years later, we had 40+ dogs together, currently 22 of them still with us. And hubby is the biggest sucker when it comes to our doggie babies 🥰❤️🐾
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189points
#9
I was 22 years old and working as a veterinary technician. It’s not that I didn’t want a dog, but I had no intention of getting one at this point in my life.
A breeder client who’s dogs I absolutely loved, had a litter and 2 out of 11 pups were born with cleft palates, another with a cleft lip. They tried their best with all 3 special needs babies, unfortunately the 2 cleft palates pups didn’t make it. The 3rd little runt puppy started to thrive after a few weeks of being tube fed and bottle fed. They even did surgery to try to repair her cleft lip. Unfortunately the stitches didn’t hold, so she came in to have them taken out.
At the point of this puppy’s appointment (also a vet check for the whole litter) the clinic was very busy, and the doctor asked me to take this puppy to back to remove her stitches - everyone else was busy so I had to do this alone without someone to restrain her.
I decided to sit down and I put the little puppy on her back in my lap. The biggest, sweetest brown eyes just started up at me, her legs flopped to the side and she just laid there calm as could be while I removed several stitches from her face.
It was love at first sight, I knew in that instant I needed this particular dog in my life and she had to be mine. The breeders agreed and a couple days (what felt like an eternity) later I brought home my baby girl.
The little cleft lip runt went on to not only out grow many of her litter mates, but also lived the longest.
I lost my Penelope last year after 9.5 years. She was the best thing that ever happened to me, and she will forever be my heart dog ❤️
A breeder client who’s dogs I absolutely loved, had a litter and 2 out of 11 pups were born with cleft palates, another with a cleft lip. They tried their best with all 3 special needs babies, unfortunately the 2 cleft palates pups didn’t make it. The 3rd little runt puppy started to thrive after a few weeks of being tube fed and bottle fed. They even did surgery to try to repair her cleft lip. Unfortunately the stitches didn’t hold, so she came in to have them taken out.
At the point of this puppy’s appointment (also a vet check for the whole litter) the clinic was very busy, and the doctor asked me to take this puppy to back to remove her stitches - everyone else was busy so I had to do this alone without someone to restrain her.
I decided to sit down and I put the little puppy on her back in my lap. The biggest, sweetest brown eyes just started up at me, her legs flopped to the side and she just laid there calm as could be while I removed several stitches from her face.
It was love at first sight, I knew in that instant I needed this particular dog in my life and she had to be mine. The breeders agreed and a couple days (what felt like an eternity) later I brought home my baby girl.
The little cleft lip runt went on to not only out grow many of her litter mates, but also lived the longest.
I lost my Penelope last year after 9.5 years. She was the best thing that ever happened to me, and she will forever be my heart dog ❤️
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178points
“You wouldn’t expect a new person in your home to know your routine and to snuggle you on command, so apply the same ideas to your new pet. For the first few weeks, try to create a consistent schedule for your pet so they get used to a daily routine and the people in their new family,” DiCicco explained the importance of routine and patience.
“It’s best to create a safe and quiet space in your home in case they need some alone time. It’s also particularly important in the first few weeks of having a new pet to get into the habit of consent petting. This means that, instead of the human initiating the petting, the dog or cat initiates the petting. Stop every few seconds, and only start again when they nudge you for more,” she said.
Well, there you go, dear Pandas—something that is bound to help you out if you go rescue a dog (or a cat, don’t worry, we won’t judge you).
#10
Me: "Let’s go to the pound and check out some rescues just to pass the time"
Him:" No, because your gonna want to come home with a dog and we already have three..."
Me: "No,not at all. I just wanna look" [picks up puppy]
Me: "Can we get this one?"
Him: "Step away from the puppy, Stacy"
Me: "Wait! Let’s talk about this for a minute "
Him: "Come on, we can always come back if we decide we want to get him" [turns around and heads towards the door]
Me: "But what if he’s not here when we get back... "
Him: "Seriously right now!? Is it going to make you happy?"
And BAM! The first photo was taken of dad holding his new best friend. As you can see my husband was absolutely thrilled. Okay, not really lol
Now these two are inseparable and no one wants to hang out with me lol
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168points
#11
I didn't want ANOTHER dog. We had a new baby, and two older dogs to care for and I didn't want another dog...
My cousin told me about a puppy that needed training help (I'm a dog trainer). The owners said their new puppy was aggressive, manic and they called her a 'devil dog'. I suspected that this was just a normal puppy that was doing normal puppy biting. The story started to unravel - puppy was being kept in a crate, no one was playing with puppy, puppy was having food and water withheld, puppy was peeing a lot, puppy was eating her own poop. Owners had started to really neglect the puppy and.... They didn't want her anymore.
Cut to me picking up a 3 month old puppy from the airport, a little underweight, very friendly but a little scared, and bringing her home. To say it was busy was an understatement. This puppy needed extra help to learn good manners, potty training was a challenge and I had a 6 month old baby at the same time. I thought to myself, what have I done? I was tired, frustrated, and overwhelmed.
That is just all a fuzzy memory now. We have a beautiful, loving, silly, fluffy dog who is my daughter's playmate and best friend. ❤️
My cousin told me about a puppy that needed training help (I'm a dog trainer). The owners said their new puppy was aggressive, manic and they called her a 'devil dog'. I suspected that this was just a normal puppy that was doing normal puppy biting. The story started to unravel - puppy was being kept in a crate, no one was playing with puppy, puppy was having food and water withheld, puppy was peeing a lot, puppy was eating her own poop. Owners had started to really neglect the puppy and.... They didn't want her anymore.
Cut to me picking up a 3 month old puppy from the airport, a little underweight, very friendly but a little scared, and bringing her home. To say it was busy was an understatement. This puppy needed extra help to learn good manners, potty training was a challenge and I had a 6 month old baby at the same time. I thought to myself, what have I done? I was tired, frustrated, and overwhelmed.
That is just all a fuzzy memory now. We have a beautiful, loving, silly, fluffy dog who is my daughter's playmate and best friend. ❤️
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164points
#12
"Don't you think 4 dogs is too much?!"
As you can see, he clearly still feels like a 4th dog is excessive 😂 he even calls her "Princess Cutie Pie"
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161points
#13
Its not that I didn't want a dog, I just wasn't ready. I was in a fairly new relationship and my life was just beginning to settle down. Then one day at work I got the phone call...
"Jen, you know the one eared doberman puppy I told you about? She needs a home and you are the only person I know who could raise her and well. They need to get rid of her ASAP and the second option isn't looking good". I explained with work etc and my small flat that I wouldn't be good enough but with a couple of hours, I was convinced.
"Okay, I'll foster her and find her her forever home, I'm not ready for the commitment"
One hour in, the little devil bit like mad, scratched. Tore apart everything in her track. I knew "no one will be mad enough to take this dog on".
6 months later my engagement collapsed. With my work and my money and small space, I have to find her a better home. I rang my friend crying. "Jen, you and your home are all she has ever known. You are the best place for her".
2 months later he breaks in with a knife and attacks us. She defended me. I knew, no matter what, I had to stick by her like she did me. We worked so hard on her behaviour. I halved my hours, I learned to budget and now 2 years on almost to the day, she is still here, by my side, my best friend and the best thing to have ever happened to me. With persistence she turned into the sweetest most loving lap dog. I'm grateful for her every single day.
"Jen, you know the one eared doberman puppy I told you about? She needs a home and you are the only person I know who could raise her and well. They need to get rid of her ASAP and the second option isn't looking good". I explained with work etc and my small flat that I wouldn't be good enough but with a couple of hours, I was convinced.
"Okay, I'll foster her and find her her forever home, I'm not ready for the commitment"
One hour in, the little devil bit like mad, scratched. Tore apart everything in her track. I knew "no one will be mad enough to take this dog on".
6 months later my engagement collapsed. With my work and my money and small space, I have to find her a better home. I rang my friend crying. "Jen, you and your home are all she has ever known. You are the best place for her".
2 months later he breaks in with a knife and attacks us. She defended me. I knew, no matter what, I had to stick by her like she did me. We worked so hard on her behaviour. I halved my hours, I learned to budget and now 2 years on almost to the day, she is still here, by my side, my best friend and the best thing to have ever happened to me. With persistence she turned into the sweetest most loving lap dog. I'm grateful for her every single day.
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159points
#14
“I don’t want to adopt a senior dog. She’ll break our heart one day soon.”
He even made me take her back and was livid when I ended up bringing her home a second time.. It took awhile but the laughs she created in the home replaced the feelings he had before..
She broke our hearts 9/4/20 💔
If you ask my boyfriend, he’d say he wouldn’t trade those 2 years with her. We would do it all over again. He’s gunna kill me when he sees this though.
Rest In Peace Ms.B 👼 🐾
He even made me take her back and was livid when I ended up bringing her home a second time.. It took awhile but the laughs she created in the home replaced the feelings he had before..
She broke our hearts 9/4/20 💔
If you ask my boyfriend, he’d say he wouldn’t trade those 2 years with her. We would do it all over again. He’s gunna kill me when he sees this though.
Rest In Peace Ms.B 👼 🐾
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150points
#15
Husband before: “Listen, if the dog barks like crazy, sh**s in the house, or destroys things we are bringing him back”
Husband now: “Wrap him in a blanket, he’s cold!!!”
(Honestly I think he would pick Thanos over me, his wife!)
Husband now: “Wrap him in a blanket, he’s cold!!!”
(Honestly I think he would pick Thanos over me, his wife!)
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137points
#16
When I moved out of my mom's into a house with my fiance, I was admittedly on probation. I was fighting an addiction and in no way did I want any more responsibilities. I have always been an avid dog lover and one day I was sad and craving puppy snuggles. I jokingly posted on Facebook that I had puppy fever, not expecting anything from it. Then someone posted a picture of the white dog, now named Stella, on the post saying she needed a new home. I didn't want a dog, at all, but I kept thinking about her throughout the day and finally made a whirlwind decision to bring her home with me. Then the grey dog, my Little, my fiance wanted his own puppy and a friend for Stella and I was completely against it. He goes and finds a puppy anyways and I again fell in love. She has dwarfism and a plethora of other health issues which is WAY MORE than I wanted to take on, but she is my baby and I love her. If you read this far, there is a very short version of my story. This picture is already four whole years old, so not wanting a dog turned into having two, four year old American Pitbull Terriers running around my house and they have saved me in more ways than I can count. Best decision ever.
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131points
#17
Me: I’ll always have at least one dog.
Future husband: I’m really more of a cat person, but you do you.
Me: I’m going to start fostering dogs, in addition to the three we have.
Husband: 🤦🏻♂️🙄 fine, but I’m not getting involved.
Me: I have a post-op foster. She’s very sick, idk if she’ll survive. She’ll probably be with us for a couple months while we rehab her for adoption.
Husband: don’t get attached.
Me: she’s cardiac stable & cancer free and ready for adoption!
Husband: you’re not giving away my dog!
Future husband: I’m really more of a cat person, but you do you.
Me: I’m going to start fostering dogs, in addition to the three we have.
Husband: 🤦🏻♂️🙄 fine, but I’m not getting involved.
Me: I have a post-op foster. She’s very sick, idk if she’ll survive. She’ll probably be with us for a couple months while we rehab her for adoption.
Husband: don’t get attached.
Me: she’s cardiac stable & cancer free and ready for adoption!
Husband: you’re not giving away my dog!
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128points
#18
This is Josie. She’ll be 10 on Christmas Day. She started out being adopted as a puppy by my friend’s brother and his wife. They realized pretty quickly they’d made a mistake and she went to my friend. She already had an elderly pup and couldn’t keep her so, they started trying to find a home for this girl to go to. I couldn’t bear to watch her go to just some random family so, I called my parents and asked if we could take her. My mom always said that if she got a dog, it would be a lab and I couldn’t imagine this being more perfect of a situation. After several no’s and them basically telling me if I wanted a dog, I should move out, they agreed to let me keep her.
My dad was always a cat person and really never wanted a dog. It took him a little while to warm up to her and the idea of having a dog in the house but he eventually settled into it. Fast forward a few years later when I was finally moving out, I asked my dad what he was going to do since I was moving out and Josie would be coming with me. His exact words were, “F you, no she’s not.” So, I moved out and she stayed with my parents.
Fast forward another few years and my dad was going through crippling and debilitating back pain to the point that he just became a miserable ball of depression. But the one thing that always cheered him up was all 70 pounds of Josie climbing up onto his lap for a snuggle. My dad is a bearded 6’3, pushing 300 pounds, military man who intimidates people just by looking at them but his voice can reach an octave I never thought was possible when he calls over “Josie dawg.” She’s always by his side, especially when she gets to go in the truck to go to Tim’s (Tim Hortons) where every employee knows who she is. They hear my dad’s voice at the drive thru speaker and always end the order with, “And a Timbit for Josie?”
10 whole years with this girl and we know it won’t last forever. She’s the best thing that could have happened to our family, especially my dad, and we didn’t even know we needed it.
My dad was always a cat person and really never wanted a dog. It took him a little while to warm up to her and the idea of having a dog in the house but he eventually settled into it. Fast forward a few years later when I was finally moving out, I asked my dad what he was going to do since I was moving out and Josie would be coming with me. His exact words were, “F you, no she’s not.” So, I moved out and she stayed with my parents.
Fast forward another few years and my dad was going through crippling and debilitating back pain to the point that he just became a miserable ball of depression. But the one thing that always cheered him up was all 70 pounds of Josie climbing up onto his lap for a snuggle. My dad is a bearded 6’3, pushing 300 pounds, military man who intimidates people just by looking at them but his voice can reach an octave I never thought was possible when he calls over “Josie dawg.” She’s always by his side, especially when she gets to go in the truck to go to Tim’s (Tim Hortons) where every employee knows who she is. They hear my dad’s voice at the drive thru speaker and always end the order with, “And a Timbit for Josie?”
10 whole years with this girl and we know it won’t last forever. She’s the best thing that could have happened to our family, especially my dad, and we didn’t even know we needed it.
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126points
#19
Sept, 2018
HW: (to deployed husband) Best friend has the kids for a little while. I'm going to go to the farm and grab some pumpkins for jack o lanterns.
(2 hours later)
HW: (sends first two pictures to husband)
Husband: That's not a pumpkin. Just what is that?!
There was an adoption event at the farm, full of puppies and this wretched creature. A volunteer tried to talk me out of her, citing her bad eyes, bad teeth, and bad hip, even her graying hair. Well I too have bad eyes, bad teeth, a bad hip, and graying hair. Someone had left her at the shelter as we evacuated from hurricane Florence. I don't know how old she is, or even what she is, but I know I don't know what I would do without her.
HW: (to deployed husband) Best friend has the kids for a little while. I'm going to go to the farm and grab some pumpkins for jack o lanterns.
(2 hours later)
HW: (sends first two pictures to husband)
Husband: That's not a pumpkin. Just what is that?!
There was an adoption event at the farm, full of puppies and this wretched creature. A volunteer tried to talk me out of her, citing her bad eyes, bad teeth, and bad hip, even her graying hair. Well I too have bad eyes, bad teeth, a bad hip, and graying hair. Someone had left her at the shelter as we evacuated from hurricane Florence. I don't know how old she is, or even what she is, but I know I don't know what I would do without her.
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125points
#20
It had been six months since our dog of 15 years passed. Mom, brother, and I were still not over it, and were desperate for a new dog to fill the hole in our hearts. Dad was not so convinced.
On a stroke of fate, I came across Jade on a local rescue page. Mom and I filled out the application, and we got a day to meet Jade as a family. On the day of, almost as if she knew she had to convince him, Jade ran to Dad for cuddles. First thing out of my dad’s mouth: “She’s too small.”
Flash forward a year, Jade became his “tiny princess,” and has never looked back.
On a stroke of fate, I came across Jade on a local rescue page. Mom and I filled out the application, and we got a day to meet Jade as a family. On the day of, almost as if she knew she had to convince him, Jade ran to Dad for cuddles. First thing out of my dad’s mouth: “She’s too small.”
Flash forward a year, Jade became his “tiny princess,” and has never looked back.
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125points