Mac and Ben's story

Owners: Beth, John & John, Jr.

We adopted Mac and Ben from LAST CHANCE ANIMAL RESCUE.

Ben, the mixed black lab, was about nine or ten weeks old when we adopted him. Apparently, someone had a dog that had a litter of puppies and when the puppies were old enough, they took the entire litter to the animal shelter. Ben is now 11 months old. He has been a happy addition to our family. He completed his basic obedience classes at Greenbelt Dog Training. Ben is currently taking intermediate classes and doing very well. He is our large, playful and obedient "puppy" and he gets along fine with our other dogs.

Mac, a German Shepherd Dog, is about five years old and was also adopted from Last Chance Animal Rescue. When we saw Mac at the adoption event, we were startled at his size. Yes, he is a large dog, but he was severely underweight. We could see every bone in Mac's body. If you petted him, you could feel every bone in his back and hips. The people of Last Chance indicated to us that Mac had already gained 30 pounds at the point. My husband and I assumed that Mac had weighed about 50 pounds when he was rescued. Apparently, whoever owned Mac previously did not provide much health care. When Mac was rescued, he had the same illness that he had had two years earlier. With proper veterinary care and proper diet, Mac has changed into a healthy dog whose healthy weight is around 100 pounds! He was at the head of his class at graduation in the basic obedience course, and is currently taking intermediate classes. Despite his beginning in life, he has a wonderful disposition. Even though he was an older dog, he had no problems getting along with our other dogs. Mac's basic obedience instructor, Allie Lee, has stated that Mac has good potential to be a therapy dog for the Pets On Wheels Program in the very near future.

Both Ben and Mac are now happy, healthy, well socialized members of our family.