If it weren't for Facebook...

I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook.  Mostly hate.

I hate that it's addictive, I hate that if you are a blogger, pet advocate, business owner or photography buff, you are more or less obliged to have a Facebook account and/or page.  I hate that they are now pushing page owners down, down, down on the totem pole unless of course you want to pay $5 a day to "boost" your posts!!  I hate that most of all.

I love that the site has connected me with old friends (one of whom I had lost touch with for over 30 years, and how cool was it to reconnect with that person!?).  I love that it has revealed cousins that I did not know before (ok, ancestry.com helped with that one, too).  I love that I can stay in touch easily with my nieces, nephews, cousins, sisters-in-law and aunts -- all at once, just by posting a stupid photo or remembering a birthday or anniversary.  I love that I am actually "Friends" with musicians I have adored my whole life.

And then there's this:

If it weren't for Facebook, we wouldn't have Charlie Brown; and we wouldn't have Cooper, either!

Five months after the sudden loss of our beloved Hector, we weren't looking for a new dog.

Handsome Hector Huge!  We love ya, buddy!

We were enjoying our time being a one-dog (and three cat) family.  Enjoying trips to the beach and the lake with Hobie, and spoiling him rotten.  Hobie missed "Hec" just as much as we did, maybe more.  They were brothers from other mothers.

Hobie, at the lake, after a spa day!
(Bandana provided by groomer)

I had been on Facebook for about 3 years, having joined because of a high school reunion.  So, after the reunion came and went, I ended up spending a lot of time-wasting on Facebook.  Once the cold weather set in, and trips to the beach with Hobie would be on-hold for a few months, I started looking at PetFinder and was following a bunch of shelters.  I kept showing puppies to Gil and he kept saying no, we are not ready yet.  At one point, he casually mentioned how his next dog should be a combination between Schulz (his beloved Collie-mix from before he knew me) and Hector (our beloved hound-mix).  Remember that for later: a collie, and a hound... 

A day or so later, I saw that a friend of mine had "Liked" the Facebook page of a local rescue called "Great Dog Rescue of New England".  I just went to their Facebook page and clicked "Like" for no other reason than it was something to do.  

And a few days later, there was this picture and post about a dog named Charlie Brown.  

Charlie Brown is a smart, cuddly, 7 week old Collie/Hound mix who weighs 8lbs. He was rescued along with his siblings after being discovered in rural Tenn by a construction worker who was sent to bulldoze a house. When he looked inside to do a final check of the home, he heard a cry and started looking around. That is when he found the momma, Kate and her 8 tiny babies hidden in a closet. The worker thought he did the right thing by taking them to a shelter, but unfortunately it was a kill shelter where Kate+8 faced certain doom. Luckily for this little family one of the kind shelter workers called a Southern Rescue partner of Great Dog Rescue New England. She saved the family and kept them healthy and well until they could be moved to MA where they now are living with one of our wonderful foster mommies who loves and adores each and every one of them! Charlie Brown is the leader of the pack and the first to climb in your lap, grab a toy or let you know hes ready for fun. He likes to be cuddled and play with toys and his littermates. He has the sweetest face and a tail that is always wagging.. Due to his age, he is not crate trained or house trained, but he is such a smarty, he should not have any problems learning. 

We didn't adopt Charlie right away.  Someone else had beat us to it.  But a few weeks went by, and I decided to see if Great Dog had any other guys available for adoption.  Lo and behold, the adoption fell through with the original family, and we were next in line!  We got Charlie Brown in 2012, and 7 months later, we adopted his brother and litter mate, Cooper, the three-legged cuddling machine!

So, you see, Facebook isn't all bad!  

To follow my Facebook page, go here:  K2's K9s and Kitties, on Facebook