Meet Cricket and Bean (Don’t Shop, Adopt!)

Meet Cricket and Bean, our two beloved rescue pups. They both recently had birthdays, so it seemed like the perfect time to introduce them to the blog. Like I just said, they’re both rescues. Animal rights, animal shelters, and pet adoption are favorite causes for me. There are so many great dogs (and other pets) out there that need a home. Many — like ours — had sad starts, but thanks to the hard work of these organizations, found their happy ending. If you’re looking to add a furry family member, I hope you’ll consider a shelter pet.

So anyway, back to our girls:

Meet Cricket
Cricket is our first kid. Our big brindle baby. Our dear, sweet pumpkin pants. Hubs and I adopted Cricket in the spring of 2011 after buying our house. After all, what home is complete without a dog? Cricket came from a small rescue outside of Minneapolis. The rescue was largely foster-based, so she was living in a house with two other dogs, as well as her brother.

Cricket’s backstory is heartbreaking. She and her siblings were part of an “oops!” litter. Their mother was a purebred Rottweiler and the neighbor’s (not-so-much) pit bull wreaked havoc on the breeder’s time and profits. The litter was thrown out to fend for itself in a South Dakota January. Cricket and only one of her brothers survived.

My husband and I decided to do a DNA test on Cricket when she was a couple of years old. Our fingers were crossed that the story wasn’t true. What kind of monster does that to a bunch of puppies?! Lo and behold, the story was true; she’s half Rottweiler on her mother’s side. That pretty brindle though? French bulldog. 25%. The other quarter had some pit bull, but the majority was indecipherable among all the breeds. Not that it matters; she’s 100% love to us.

Bean
Baby Bean was about five months old when she joined our family. We had considered adopting a second pup for some time, but weren’t sure our small ranch-style home could contain another big dog. A small dog was out of the question — we just weren’t small dog people. Then we met Buck. (Yeah, Buck. Not Bean!)

Buck was my brother’s girlfriend’s dog (still is her dog, I suppose, and she’s now his wife). Buck was a Chihuahua mix and the most lovable, snuggly, and chill dog. Who knew small dogs could be cool? So Buck changed our tune on little dogs and within a month of meeting him we found Bean on Petfinder and welcomed her to our family.

Bean’s a purebred Chihuahua. She came from rural Wisconsin — adopted from a shelter that’s bombarded by puppy mill “leftovers.” (Yes, people literally just drop puppies off at the shelter when they can’t sell them. Although it’s better than another option, I suppose.) We’re so grateful that baby Bean is part of our family. Her sass perfectly compliments Cricket’s sweet. And while we had a tougher time training her (apparently this is pretty typical for little dogs), thanks to Cricket’s guidance, she’s proven to be a great dog.

Cricket and Bean, now 8 and 5, have been wonderful additions to our family. Both have been great with our children and it’s been so heartwarming to watch their relationships grow.

And if you’re curious: No, Bean doesn’t run the roost. She tried when she first arrived, but Cricket put the kibosh on that intention very quickly. They’re really just the best of friends.

Aren’t they sweet?

I’d love to hear about your pups below!

— Funky Crunchy Mama