I’ll never forget the first night we brought  Hunter home. When we rescued our little cuddle bug, he was missing all of the hair around his eyes and had a problematic case of Demodex. He was in need of someone to love him – and that’s exactly what we did!
In the spring, we noticed Hunter limping quite badly and yelping out anytime we touched his back. And on a weekday morning, just a short time before my wedding, I found myself crying in the veterinarian’s office… wondering how we were going to afford the MRI that eventually revealed an infection in his spine. It was a really emotional time around the Hayes Household and I’m happy to report that after four weeks of antibiotics, Hunter is finally acting like a normal dog again! [Very rambunctious. Like a furry little firecracker.] And we are so grateful to the Calvert Veterinary Center in Pasadena and Mid-Atlantic Veterinary Neurology for taking such amazing care of Hunter over the past few months!
All of my friends know that I treat my dogs like children. They are my office companions all day while I edit and when Huey gets home from work – we spent hours in the yard playing frisbee with Sophie, lounging with Hunter, and watching the sun set. I have always been (and will always be) a dog person. With Hunter’s birthday next week, nothing makes me happier than to see him running around the yard, tail wagging, with a playful look on his face. I swear that some days, it really does seem like he’s smiling…  happy to be a part of our family!
Happy Birthday Hunter!
And now… All grown up + finally getting healthy!
And I saved the best part for last! Woohoo!
***COMMENT CONTEST ***
In honor of Hunter’s birthday, I am making a $25 Donation to the Maryland SPCA in his name! And to make this even more of a celebration, I want to double that donation and send a second check for $25 in honor of your pet to the rescue that helped bring you both together or an animal-related charity of your choice.*
To Enter: Leave your pet’s name & charity choice in the comment section below. Â I will select ONE comment using a Random Number Generator for the $25 donation today at 5pm! Feel free to include a small story or sentence about why you’re choosing that charity OR share a little about your pet!
Rules: One comment per person. Charity/Non-Profit Organization must be Animal or Pet-Related! Contest closes at 4:59pm today – August 6, 2013.
Yay! Contest is closed and the second check is going to BARCs in Baltimore (Comment #21 from the top, Teri Pozniak) – – Thank you all for helping us to celebrate Hunter’s Birthday and for spreading the word about all of the amazing animal related charities and organizations out there!
Awww Hunter looks like such a sweet pup!
I have a cat named Sugar Britches. She’s the best photographers assistant ever. 🙂 She (and I) would love a donation in her name to the Virginia SPCA! 🙂
He is such a cute dog! And so great to hear he is healthy again 🙂
There isn’t anything sweeter than a happy pup. Love these!!
Sherlock Pemberley Padfoot Gamgee (blame the wife for the many middle names). And your choice is phenomenal; Maryland SPCA.
Ahhh this hit home so hard this morning. We have an appointment at 10:20am because we found lumps on riley’s belly yesterday. Not sure what it is yet but my heart is aching already and I’m just hoping for the best. I know that we love our pups as though they were our kids, and I’m so happy to hear that Hunter is doing better! 🙂
Happy Birthday Hunter! I’m so glad he’s on the mend. Love that first photo of you all 🙂
I am so so so glad you blogged about this! I too treat my two pups like my kids. They even hop in the car with my sometimes when we are just going to the post office – which usually means a trip to this wide open field by my house afterwards. I love having the little one snuggle at my feet while I edit or on my lap and the bigger one laying on the side of of my desk just waiting for the next time we go outside. The little one I actually took off someone’s hands that couldn’t stand the barking…clearly they had never had an animal before because after 4 days of having him and spending $1400 they wanted to give him up for free. The other I rescued when she was 3 months old from Homeward Trails in VA. They are an awesome organization and I secretly hope my number is drawn!! Here is a link: http://www.homewardtrails.org/
So glad Hunter is better! We rescued Carlos through Richardson Rescue and I (Carlos too!) would love for you to send a donation to them!
http://www.richardsonrescue.org/
Happy Birthday Hunter!! I’m so happy to hear he’s healthy and happy!! And my dogs totally smile, just saying <3
It’s so scary when our furbabies are feeling bad. They can’t talk and tell you what is wrong and you feel so helpless. Glad to hear that Hunter is feeling better. Our furry puglet is Roxy and she was our first baby. At 10 years old, she is still going strong…deaf..but pugnacious! Mid-Atlantic Pug Rescue would be an amazing organization to donate a little love to today! 🙂 Thanks for all you do Natalie!
Happy birthday Hunter! What an awesome way to celebrate!! I have a kitty BFF named Lucy and we’d love to have a donation sent to the Peninsula Humane Society!
Yay this is wonderful! Hunter is so lucky to have you and Huey…you never know where he would have ended up if he had not been adopted, or someone else adopted him and didn’t have the care or concern to help him live a healthy and happy life. Love this post and the pictures of that handsome guy! 🙂
You’re always SO kind and generous Natalie! We adopted one of our dogs from the Anne Arundel SPCA and she was such a sweetheart!
http://www.aacspca.org/
Happy Birthday Hunter! Glad to hear he is feeling better! I’d love a donation to the Maryland SPCA in honor of Bethany!
Awwww Hunter is just so precious and this is the sweetest thing ever.
We just adopted Dudley from Lucky Dog Animal Rescue 2 weeks ago and they are just so wonderful. http://luckydoganimalrescue.org/ 🙂
YAY HUNTER!!!! It’s so awesome to see him all grown up now! What a sweetheart! Happy Birthday to him!!
I would love for a donation to be made to The Rescue House in honor of Finn! There are SO many kittens I want to rescue from there! (My friend works there.. I don’t know how she doesn’t bring them all home!) http://www.rescuehouse.org/donate.html
First off, I’m shocked that someone else has commented with a pet named Sherlock already! My poor boy isn’t unique. Haha, of course he is, but his name isn’t 🙂
I had NO idea that you went through all of this with Hunter and I am so so so so happy that he’s doing well and he looks so gorgeous in his grown up photos.
If I were to win I’d want my check to go to the Baltimore Humane Society where we got our baby Sherlock. He means so much to both of us and we just love our little family. Having him around has even brought Steve and I closer as a couple!
As I’m sure you can imagine, this blog post created the most gigantic smile plastered on my face!! Your love & generosity is incredible. Thank you for being a voice for those who don’t have one.
Wishing Hunter the happiest of birthdays, filled with squirrel chasing, stick chewing, & treats!
Holly Pancetta & the 8 Poz Palace foster pups (Lorraine, Precious, Roxie, Gracie Lou, Bubs, Shay, Cocoa Kelly, & Jade) send lots of puppy kisses, and would love for BARCS to be the benefactor if they won! Xoxo
Happy Birthday Hunter!!
My dog is named Egan. I would love to donate to Guiding Eyes for the Blind. Egan was actually a guide dog that I trained. I also trained my other dog Navarro who is now a bomb sniffing dog for ATF (Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms) He has worked with the president! I love Guiding Eyes and all they have done for those in need. Egan and Navarro are great dogs helping people everyday.
This is such a great idea! I’d love a donation to BARCs for my pup Rover!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY HUNTER!!! I’m so happy that is able to run around and do what all dogs like to do…play with BoBo of course! My dog’s name is LuLu. We got her from the SPCA in Annapolis 12 years ago. She is now 16 years old. She has been the absolute best dog we could ever have. There is one non-profit organization that I think do a tremendous job. It is Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter (BARCS). Most of the dogs are one of the favorite breeds, pit bull, and having excellent homes for them.
This is such a sweet story, and GO HUNTER GO!!!!!
My sweet pup Dexter was as stray born under a barn and thankfully at my cousins house so his litter was given to loving parents for free! and his momma is no longer with us because of an angry neighbor 🙁 So with that said I would love for you to donate $25 to a local charity that helps other strays or pups who are set to be put down and gets them foster and adopted in the area! Operation Paws for Homes (https://ophrescue.org/)
love this and everyone’s sweet stories and charities!
You have the biggest heart! Hunter and Sophie are so lucky to have you as their mommy 🙂