The story behind her name
She earned it the first day. A 60-pound pit bull who acted like she'd been waiting her whole life for a couch and a person to lean on. Cuddles wasn't a description. It was a contract.
She came to us as a foster — already 7, already gentle, already carrying the kind of quiet that older dogs carry when they've been through a few rounds of life. We said yes because that's what you do when a dog like her shows up.
What we didn't know on day one was the ear infection. Not the surface kind. The deep, painful, expensive kind that needed real veterinary intervention before it became something worse. The bill came in north of $3,000. We handled it because that's what fostering means.
Eighteen months. That's how long Cuddles was with us. Long enough to heal, long enough to become part of the daily rhythm of this house, long enough for our kids to learn what it actually looks like to take responsibility for an animal start to finish — not just the easy parts.
And then — she found her home. The right one. A family who saw her for exactly what she was: a senior dog with a lot of love left, who deserved to spend her later years on someone's actual couch, not just a foster couch. Cuddles is home.
This page stays up because her story matters. The kids saw it through. We want anyone who reads it to know what good fostering can look like — and to be reminded that there are dogs like Cuddles waiting at every shelter in this state.