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When my husband and I first moved in together before we got married, we knew immediately that we wanted to rescue a cat.

A former coworker had just found a pregnant cat and a litter of kittens alongside the road in the middle of nowhere West Virginia. The cat soon had its second litter of kittens, and we decided to take a tuxedo named Zooey.

Two years later, I began to pester my husband about a dog that could be company for my cat. I was constantly in pet stores and in shelters searching.

One night, I was looking on a humane society page and saw five dogs had been rescued. Among them was a three year old dog named Radar. Radar was a purebred chihuahua who had been outside her whole life and had given birth to a litter of husky/chihuahua puppies every time she was able to from the age of about six months.

Her eyes immediately sucked me in, and we had her on a trial basis that day. My husband was unsure. He had never owned a dog and it was clear something had happened to her in her young life. She was terrified of men, had her tail tucked constantly, and shook all the time.

She had an accident in our apartment soon after we had her. We had expected it and cleaned it out without reprimand. She shook and whined for an hour that night, and that's when I knew I had to keep her and show her what love was like.

We have had her for nine months, and she now knows what toys, treats, car rides and a bed feel like. She only shakes when we leave the house, and she has fallen in love with the men in our family. We have gotten her spayed and now she knows what being a puppy should have been like.

We renamed her Regan and now she and my cat Zooey are best friends. They were the best decisions we have ever made!

Story submitted by Deborah from Frostburg, Maryland.

This story was originally shared on The Animal Rescue Site. Share your very own rescue story here!