Once upon a time, Sheldon waited for a forever family at the Crestwood Animal Shelter. Sometimes, he would get to leave the shelter and go places like Danielle Critzas’ house. Critzas’ mother works at the shelter and would bring Sheldon over when she was watching him.
Critzas recalls how Sheldon would fall asleep in her and her boyfriend’s laps.
“He just always wants to show you how much he loves you,” she says.
Her boyfriend had just gotten a new camera and was tasked with making a video so Sheldon could get adopted.
“I knew when we were looking back at the video that I wanted him,” Critzas says.
They’ve had Sheldon for nearly half a year, and she says he’s the “perfect dog.”
“His favorite things are cuddling and being held, but he’s 25 to 30 pounds,” she says with a laugh.
Lately, Sheldon’s weakness has been blankets. Critzas says that while he won’t destroy anything else, blankets left out stand no chance in their household.
“If he has access to a blanket, he’ll destroy it,” she says.
Sheldon is partially blind, and Critzas says he gets nervous if he can’t figure out his surroundings quickly. It took him a while to figure out the layout of their place. Critzas recalls him “crashing into everything” when they first brought him home. His solution to making sure he’s not going to walk into anything? Stomping.
“He stomps so loudly when he walks,” she says. “I think he’s hearing his feet so he knows where he is. He also snores so loudly.”
When Critzas’ mom first got him at the shelter, Sheldon had a stroller he would crawl into and ride around in. He loved to be pushed around in it, Critzas says. She thinks it made him feel safe because he didn’t have to worry about figuring out his surroundings. When she adopted Sheldon, she got a little covered trailer for her bicycle so he could ride around, too. While such trailers are usually meant for children, Critzas says Sheldon is content to “go for rides” with her.
Critzas and her boyfriend went to great lengths to adopt Sheldon. Their former place didn’t allow them to have dogs, so they moved to be able to accommodate him.
“I hadn’t had a dog for almost a year, and having a dog was such a huge part of my life,” she says. “Now I have this dog that’s totally content with lying in my arms at the end of the day.”
This story was originally published at laduenews.com. Read it on LN’s website here.
Robyn Elizabeth Dexter 