Every friendship has a story. Most of us remember the moment we met our best friend or significant other like it happened yesterday. Pets are no exception. They bring so much joy and fulfillment to our lives, it’s impossible to forget the day your heart told you that this tiny cold nose, long whiskers, or wagging tail was something you'd always needed.
And to celebrate the beautiful life with our four-legged friends, pet owners are now participating in a viral #ThenAndNowChallenge on Facebook which shows side-by-side images on the day they met vs. today.
Genuine smiles and all-telling eyes are enough to speak thousands of words about the precious bond humans share with animals. It’s impawsible not to notice how fast time flies in photos, but some things, they do stay forever.
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#1
Faelen the day I brought him home at 5 weeks versus now at 1.5 years.
Faelen is an upper mid content Wolfdog. He’s mostly wolf with malamute and German Shepherd. Wolfdogs are beautiful but not a good fit for the average owner. They are high maintence companion animals, more like kids than pets in their intensity of needs in many ways. Real wolfdogs are not protective, not good family dogs, and often not good with small animals/small dogs. Higher content ones like Faelen are especially intense in behavior and needs.
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Bored Panda reached out to Melissa Cohen, who has been fostering puppies for Pitties & Purrs Rescue in Baltimore, MD and helped to save and treat many pets with difficult medical conditions and injuries.
“Arya [the dog in the photo above] definitely motivated us to focus on medical fosters—the dogs who need extra time and care. For instance, our current foster dog’s injuries were so horrific, I couldn’t show her on that page. It’s against the rules.”
Melissa said that Arya became the main inspiration for fostering the most difficult medical cases in pets. “Before we took Arya, my husband and I fostered puppies who just needed basic care before they could be adopted.”
#2
Last year, we started fostering healthy little puppies. We were between fosters when we were asked to take in a puppy with severe mange just for a few days. One day later, I was rushing her to the veterinary ER. Her little body was shutting down. I handed this sick little girl over to the vet tech, thinking I’d never see her again. Arya was hospitalized for five days. In that time, my husband and I became emotionally invested in her and asked to keep fostering her through her recovery. When we picked her up from the ER, I expected a sick puppy, but they handed me this wriggly, happy girl. The picture on the right was just five weeks later. She was with us for four months in total, and now she has a wonderful forever family who sends us tons of updates. Our little warrior princess inspired us to keep fostering medical cases. We’ve since fostered Dallas with a heart condition (adopted), Frankie with genetic deformities (adopted), and Carroll with severe burns (still with us in foster). What Arya taught me is that there’s beauty in the not-so picture perfect. 💜
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#3
Everyone in rescue will tell you it’s hard. Not enough money, fosters or time to save them all, but every once in a while a picture hits your inbox that gut punches you and all your well made plans go out the window. That was the case of Thor. I cried when I saw his picture. He’d given up. The shelter didn’t care, they didn’t even assign him a cute name, just a number. He wasn’t given the 3 day stray hold, pull him today or he dies in the morning. So I moved a couple of mountains and that’s exactly what we did. He came to me 30lbs underweight, open sores everywhere, heartworm positive, and a mouth full of rotten teeth. I didn’t care. I was on a mission to make his senior years the best he ever had. And that’s exactly what happened. He lived another two years a smiling happy boy and at the end, I was with him to say goodbye. My soft spot for seniors holds a promise that they never cross that bridge alone. I miss my old man, he was a very good boy 💔😭 Edit* This post blew up so fast. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for loving him as much as I do ❤️ I also want to thank all my rescue sisters and brothers who are in the trenches daily doing this. You are warriors that we need in the world. You bring so much light and love to a dark world. Thank you doesn’t seem to cover it, but you are loved for what you do. And thanks to all who have adopted, fostered, given care in a shelter, you are an amazing human being!!!
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#4
Handsome Harry! Hit by a car in the middle of the night, found by some nice people that took him to a shelter and then pulled by a rescue. Mange, a broken hip and a down spirit all healed in time with some love. Harry made a full recovery and is now living his best life.
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Melissa said that Arya had to be hospitalized for 5 days after arriving in Maryland. “When she came home, our focus was on improving her internal health and putting some weight on her.”
She also said that healing the skin was quite simple, since it just took some basic medicine. “Mange dogs like Arya look scary, but they’re often easy to cure,” said Melissa and added that the time difference between the two photos is just five weeks. Fortunately, the girl is now happy in her forever family and Melissa has helped more dogs with medical conditions since.
#5
Jumping on the #thenandnowchallenge with Koryo. We adopted him in May of 2019 from the county shelter. He was an owner surrender, because his person passed away and the family didn't want him. His name was Coors. 9 years old, 40+ lbs, pure corgi. He literally couldn't walk to the end of our driveway, or p**p without pooping on himself. He had skin infections in his rolls, and was on Apoquel. Now, hes down to around 25lbs. He loves to run and play! We switched him to a prescription diet, and he only needs cytopoint seasonally. He recently started having seizures, but after a full neurological workup, it turns out to be idiopathic epilepsy (best case scenario in an 11 year old dog who just started randomly seizing.) He's spoiled like crazy, and is such a great dog!!
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#6
This is Boris. I met him at PetSmart when they were hosting a no [end] shelter. They told me he had recently been rescued by a volunteer and was heartworm positive. He was in a kennel completely ignoring me. I wasn’t sure if he would like me since he kept eyeing some kids running around. My bf said to just go for it. I did. One of the best decisions ever. It’s been 5 years and I just wish I would have found him sooner. He’s my heart.
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#7
Casper was dumped by his previous owner when he hit the difficult teenage phase, and ran loose as a stray for almost 6 months before we were called to come trap and rescue him. We assumed he would be untouchable and never warm up to people again, so he was going to go to a sanctuary, but I spent day after day sitting with him reading, talking to him, bringing him treats, and we ended up bonding intensely. His trust in me to keep him safe has allowed me to slowly reintroduce him to being a pet and community member, and now, a little over a year and a half later, he is a sweet, cuddly, social boy who loves to shop, hike, camp, go on road trips, and hang out with me and my other dogs ❤
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Melissa also said that fostering is the most rewarding things a human can do. “Watching a scared or sick animal transform and trust you is so satisfying.”
She also urged potential foster carers not to be afraid that they'll have to keep all the fosters. “We’ve fostered 12 dogs so far and haven’t kept one, because we know that when a foster dog is adopted, our job starts all over again with the next.”
#10
I had to post my baby’s beautiful eyes. She had a problem with her eye lids rolling inside her eyes which required surgery. Look at her now! 🥰
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#11
Just over 1 year old vs just under 8 years old. Is there any difference?
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#12
So I posted a #thenandnowchallenge with Merle on my personal page recently but this one seems more appropriate. Meet Merle on his very first day with us (5 months old) sad, nervous and extremely timid. Fast forward to one year old, living his best life. This guy right here is the derpiest, spunkiest and most loving pup! His kisses and cuddles in the morning start my days off perfectly. And at the end of a long day at work he puts a smile right on my face. Every time. This guy stole my heart so hard! Our labby Vega taught Merle how to be a dog and I wouldn't want it any other way. I'll post a challenge of Vega soon too ❤❤
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#13
Lazarus passed away last Nov. He will always be one of my greatest loves ❤ He was found in a barn with 30 pounds of matted hair on his body. He lived quite the best few years after that.
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#14
This is Maury. He’s currently 6 1/2 years old and was a year old on his gotcha day. We believe he is an Aussie Shepherd mix. He was Black and Tan when we got him and about three years ago got his first tiny white spot. He changed pretty quickly from there but now seems to be done. He’s seen the vet and specialists who all agree it’s not vitiligo and he has no issues or medical concerns. He’s just a unique soul with a great personality and very handsome look.
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#15
Resting Stank Face est. 2013 😂 Double chins represent *yes I apologise for posting the second photo again but I had to for this challenge 🤷🏻♀️😂*
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#16
Last Monday I found out Juice had bone cancer. We live in Colorado, and she had never seen the ocean- so I packed up the car and drove to CA. She's 17 ❤ We are back home in CO and laughing about all the snow we missed. Juice loved the ocean, the food, all the walks we went on.
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#17
My Hippy when I first found him in the middle of a highway on a stormy night on my birthday in 2016, then four weeks after I found him and now!!!
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#18
This is “Jake”! Saw him at a mobile adoption and my heart melted. When they packed him up to take him back to the shelter, I heard him crying and howling as they drove away. 😓 He was bought from a breeder and then surrendered by his family because they said he was “too pushy, leans on you and plays rough!” Sounded like a Rottie to me! They also wanted him to be a “show dog”, but he developed Vitaligo and started losing the pigment on his face. (Maybe the real reason they gave him up?) Interestingly enough, the happier he has become... his nose is black again! 🖤 2 1/2 years later he is the best boy ever! Definitely a handful..but pure love! 🐕🦺❤️
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#19
To be honest, there’s not much of a glowup, because my son has always been unbelievably perfect and cute and I would die for himb. But I love him more than life itself so wanted to share 🥺
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#20
London was intentionally paralyzed by her abuser ... She was to be a bait dog in a fight ring. Fortunately, she was rescued before ever making it into the ring. Due to her paralysis, the Vet at the shelter recommended euthanasia. A friend of mine, and employee of the shelter, saw London wag her tail and knew that she'd be able to walk again ... So, she "adopted" her as a foster. My husband and I heard London's story and knew we had to have her. We worked extensively with a specialist in Nashville and, after several months of physical and hydrotherapy, London healed to 90%! She has also had 1 surgery. The 2nd picture is her, mid jump, playing at daycare. Her name was Panda, but she often fell when re-learning to use her back legs. I would say, "Slow down, London!" ... Referencing London Bridge. She began to respond to London, so we kept it 🙂 EDIT: Thank you all for the love and support! London is the center of our world ❤ Per request, I've attached some videos of her playing. She does waddle when she walks and runs, and that will never go away, but she doesn't let it stop her from enjoying every minute of her life! We do a lot of swimming with her ... She's not a fan of the pool, but she loves the beach. Fortunately, we have a boat and have access to the Gulf ... She's not spoiled at all 🤣
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