Bentley’s Story Part 1 #PedigreeGives #ad

Bentley’s Story Part 1 has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and PEDIGREE®. All opinions are my own. Please note, this post is the first in an ongoing series. Unless otherwise noted, this is the only post that is compensated. #PedigreeGives #CollectiveBias

If you’re a regular reader of Toys In The Dryer, you know that my family adopted a Boxer named Bentley about 10 months ago. I first introduced you to him in a post titled Introducing Bentley. I was so excited about him joining our family that I wrote that post less than 24 hours after he joined us and used crappy cell phone photos. I really knew nothing about him either! Now that he’s been with us for a while, I can finally tell you his (or rather, our) story…

Bentley’s “mug” shot as I call it. This is him in the shelter.

Bentley is the 4th Boxer that Hubby and I have owned. Our first three were retired, champion show dogs from the same breeder/handler. Hubby and I had always considered rescue but had a good relationship with our breeder, and with small children, weren’t sure about getting a dog that might “have issues.” After 12 years of working together, our breeder retired from breeding/showing boxers to focus on smaller dogs. With Nutty and Tottie being older (and growing up with boxers) we knew that when our last boxer died a few years ago, it the time to look into rescuing a dog.

It’s hard to tell in the photos but you could see every bone in his body when he arrived at our house.

We looked at, and applied for, many different rescue organizations in our search for a boxer that would find his furever home with us. Having a dominant French Bulldog female already at home meant that a few dogs were not the right fit for us. A lot of dogs were already spoken for with foster-to-adopt contracts by the time we applied for them. It was a long, heartbreaking, 6 months before the first photo you see above popped up on my computer screen from the Across America Boxer Rescue website.

We were emailed at each stop/hand-off during the transport and we tracked his progress to us on a map.

There was no description under that photo. Only a name the rescue had given him, his approximate (guessed) age, and the words “Stay tuned for more information about Bentley”. Even though there was no information about him, I knew he was the one. I called Across America Boxer Rescue and was told that Bentley was found as a stray and was pulled from the shelter and placed in a temporary foster home the day before. Nothing was known about him yet. The next 7-8 days were a whirlwind…multiple calls and emails between me, the rescue, and the temporary foster home; a home visit; and loads of paperwork to fill out. Bentley was joining the rescue transport from North Carolina to Minnesota to join our family as a foster-to-adopt and we were nervous but excited!…

Bentley’s story is continued in part 2.

Many dogs just like Bentley sit in shelters waiting for foster homes, or better yet, furever homes. Often shelters are over crowded and underfunded. PEDIGREE® understands that. Through the month of October, when a PEDIGREE® product is purchased at Sam’s Club, the PEDIGREE® brand will donate a bowl of food to a dog in need. Bentley was malnourished and underweight when he arrived at our house. Good nutrition was vital to his recovery and is vital to many other shelter dogs too.

Being a stray caused Bentley to have stomach issues and he is on a special diet. He can’t eat PEDIGREE® dog food but I went ahead and purchased a bag from Sam’s Club anyway. I am donating the bag to one of the Across America Boxer Rescue foster families. If your dog can’t eat PEDIGREE® food like Bentley, please consider purchasing another PEDIGREE® product from Sam’s Club during October or purchase a bag of food and donate it to a local shelter. Be sure to check out more heartfelt stories at Happy Pet Happy Home. Don’t forget to share your happy pet! Upload a photo of the dog you love to Instagram or Twitter using the hashtag #LaterShelter for a chance to be featured on SamsClub.com. The PEDIGREE® brand will donate a bowl of food for every upload.