When I read about Tie’s story on the Best Friends Animal Society website, it made me think about my pup, Apollo. Tie grew up in an animal shelter from the tender age of five weeks old. He did not have the opportunity to cuddle and be loved as a puppy. Tie had to live in a cage, and he grew up to be a timid dog.

Luckily, Tie’s life has changed and he’s now a resident at the Best Friends Animal Society where he will get the training and attention he needs. Hopefully, one day, he’ll get adopted and have the forever family that he should have had as a puppy.

My pup, Apollo, came from a litter of four. He was the only male in the bunch. When I went to look at him at the animal shelter, I specifically wanted him, because I thought he would be the perfect playmate for Zeus. The poor little guy was three months old and scared, and I had to crawl into the cage to pull him out. He was backed up in the farthest corner of the kennel and shaking.

After I adopted Apollo and took him to the vet, I found out why he was so thin and sickly looking. Apollo had every worm imaginable and weighed a mere ten pounds at three months old. He had to take yucky medicine for two weeks and had to eat prescription food because of all those worms. The poor little guy was so sick that he had no interest in his brother, Zeus, who was excited to have a playmate.

It took almost two weeks before Apollo started to feel healthy and took an interest in our other puppy, Zeus. His hair started to grow and shine after months of Science Diet food, liquid vitamins, and de-worming meds. Now, he’s a somewhat confident dog (he’s still shy and wary of people), but Zeus helped him out of his shell. Apollo loves little dogs (he’s still scared of big dogs) and has a blast chasing Daisy and Zeus around the backyard.

I’ve wondered what would have happened to Apollo if he had never been adopted. After reading Tie’s story about how timid and shy he was, it makes me think Apollo would have ended up like Tie if he had grown up in an animal shelter.

To read more about Tie and Best Friends Animal Society, visit their website.

Tags: animal rescues, animal shelters, Best Friends Animal Society, Dogs, DogTown, National Geographic Channel