Potato

Entrant's First Name
Rachel

Your Pet's Rescue Story
We rescued Potato from Pet Alliance as a three month old puppy. Of course no one was sure of his genetics, but he looked beagle-ish. As we expected him to be a small to medium dog, no more than 30 pounds, he has grown into a very large and tall dog. Watching him grow from a "we are sure he's a beagle" into "is he ever going to stop growing?!" was a fascinating journey.

His name is perfect for his personality. He is, indeed, a Potato. His daily walks often take much longer than they should due to Potato's proclivity for finding a spot of cool grass and plopping down. He relishes watching cars go by as his human impatiently taps their foot and waits for him to develop the motivation to move another hundred feet before he assumes his position under another shady spot. This has happened so often that all of our friends and family have turned this act into a verb, and is known affectionately as "Potatoing."

Everyone in the neighborhood knows Potato. He is friends with all the kids, adults, dogs, and he even wants befriend the neighborhood cats. We call them "long distance friends" because they do not share his enthusiasm for socializing. Instead he admires them from a safe distance. He is as much of a neighbor as any of the humans.

Potato is more than our pet. He is a part of our family, and it didn't take long for him to Potato his way into our hearts and lives. Our son is moving off to college this fall, and and he wants to come back and visit regularly. Does he want to visit for amazing homemade food? For his childhood room? To spend time with his doting parents? No. He wants to spend time with Potato. His biggest struggle right now is leaving Potato. He is indeed a best friend and brethren to our kids.

He is a weird dog, and he fits perfectly into our weird family. We had a Potato shaped hole in our home, and we are lucky to have found him to fill it.