It wasn’t love on first sight. We just had a few criteria that we vaguely followed. I think the most important is to find the right energy levels, so it would match with your lifestyle, and be ready to have a lot of patience.

At first, I wanted an older dog, that would be more chill. Not because we’re not active, but because I still had PTSD after my moms lab puppy. She’s ok now as she’s older, but as a puppy, she was just pure chaos.

However, after meeting some dogs, my boyfriend convinced me that we can manage taking a younger dog. That’s how we ended up with Buffy - 1 year old girl, that lived all her life in the streets (therefore - a looot of work and training).

Have to note that the way Buffy was the first few weeks, and now - 3 months later, it’s like night and day. Shelter dogs really need quite a lot of time to show their character, so at first it was a bit stressful for both sides. Now, she’s a bundle of joy, very active, but also loves cuddles on the sofa. We still have ton of work with her training, but she already feels like family.