About Save Our Scruff Dog Rescue
SO it started, you know, with just a regular human wanting to make a difference in the world of dogs as pets, and realizing she had the ability and skillset to do so. The intentions were good, and that allowed for natural growth in what SOS had to offer from the start. Sure, we eventually got the hang of those hashtag things, and we started posting better photos, but from the beginning, everyone was involved for the right reasons — even when the rescue’s scope was miniscule.
When SOS was small, it allowed us to grow together, learn through our experiences and talk them through. A community formed organically and sparked those who had the desire to give their time and efforts to what we now know to be a multi-faceted organization advocating for dogs in many different spaces.
SOS started out as what we now might understand to be an adoption agency. But as you look even just a smidgeon of a bit closer, you’ll hopefully see that’s not where we are now. And heckkk have we ever learned along the way.
We learned that not all dogs need intense human affection to thrive, and adopters don’t have to be able to provide the biggest and most expensive dog beds to be considered adequate.
We learned that adoption isn’t the fix for the overpopulation of unsupported street animals.
We learned that understanding how dogs communicate is the number one priority for helping a dog feel safe and secure — and we then circled back to our processes to change up whatever didn’t align.
We learned that structure could mean EVERYthing to a dog needing security, and we even got to learn that the human caretaker could benefit from that same structure.
We learned that adopting dogs into educated homes meant our dogs would have a better chance of being safe life-long.
We learned that by talking about the hard stuff that presented itself in tough experiences, it allowed our adopters and fosters to become extensions of our learnings.
We also learned that sometimes you do learn the hard way, but you grow from that when you’re willing to see where you went wrong.
We’ve learned SO much, and we never stop learning. We ask questions, we create passionate discussions in safe places. We ask for reflection and awareness, and are committed to always moving, and never staying stagnant. We call on to our human community to hang with our dogs together, hike and learn together how to keep our dogs feeling safe and advocated for on leash, and hold each other to the high standard each of our alumni deserves.
SOS started small — and small was cool and collective and fun and sometimes simpler. But then we grew. We grew together and we grew for the dogs. And the humans on board with our mission. We grew for them (and with them) too.
