So, here is her life story…

She grew up in Baltimore city when she was a lil pup. She was cute as a peanut, just living her cute little life minding her own business (I’m just making stuff up lol).

One day, her owner got arrested. She didn’t understand what was happening. She left her house and walked around the city. She was a little scared at first, but she loved the fresh air and FREE FOOD!

Little did she know, something bad was about to happen to her. The craziest day of her life! She was walking around the city as usual. And then…BAM! This scary dog ran towards her and bit her! She was so shocked that she couldn’t even fight back. Fortunately, a nice person saw the event and barcs (shelter) took her in (This is what the shelter lady told me). She was very traumatized, so shelter people thought she needed a foster parent before going into adoption. This is when I come in.

My roommate at the time brought me this idea of fostering a dog. We all had such stressful lives then (and I guess we weren’t very good at managing our stress), so we needed something to lift our spirits up. A week later or so, we visited barcs to get some information. We’re both dog people, so obviously, we decided right then and there, “we have to do this!”

We submitted some paperwork and a few days later, we went back to barcs to take a class. That’s when we met her for the first time. Unlike adoption, we didn’t have any options to choose from. The barcs lady looked at our information and chose her for us. When we first saw her, her kennel was right next to this huuuuge dog’s kennel (the dog was probably bigger than me), and she was quietly sitting in a little corner. I never had an experience with a pit bull, so I was a little skeptical (now I know, and I feel super guilty for saying this). Also, the lady told us that day she needed to be quarantined for FOUR MONTHS because of her injury, which I honestly couldn’t tell.

We brought her back home (they gave us a crate, too, of course) and slowly introduced her to this new environment. She was very timid, but I could tell that she was happy. She laid down on the floor like a little frog and adapted to this new space so fast. She was fully trained and honestly we did not have to teach her anything. Everyone loved her and she loved everyone, too.

4 months later…

Obviously, our bond became very strong. She really became a part of the fam. We asked everyone we knew if they could adopt her. We didn’t want to fully lose her, you know? Like hello? four months is a loooong time! But….time was up. We had to take her back to barcs so that they could start the adoption process for her. So, we took her back in. We even had a good-bye party for her. I said good-bye to her little scared self. Her tail was completely tucked in, and she kept looking back. Oh my gosh, I don’t think I could ever forget that moment.

I cried, cried, and cried. I literally could not deal with the fact that I had to let her go. I asked my bf, my family, everyone what I should do. Should I adopt her? Can I afford a dog? Can I really be a good dog mom? Is it worth it?

The next day, I was there. At barcs. Signing an adoption form. I had to do it. Yep, I failed fostering. I just loved her too much!

So, this is how Carmen became my family. This is her story.

I mean, just look at her!!!