His mother was a Boston Terrier. His father, a Chinese Crested. He’s unique. Floppy ears. Black lips. Short, wiry hair. Big, Steve Buscemi eyes. He’s one of a kind. 

Before he was Petey, he was Pickles, and before he was Pickles, he was Colton. Colton was born in a drug house and passed off to an elderly man with cognitive impairments who couldn’t care for him. Eventually, he was abandoned.

But Colton’s story doesn’t end there. 

One fateful day, a good samaritan found him wandering the streets near 41B St and Delta Port Way in Ladner—the middle of nowhere. They brought him to the shelter, where his painful past was uncovered. His original owner came forward, explaining that he simply couldn’t care for Colton anymore. With what we hoped was regret and remorse, they chose not to claim him. Instead, they left him behind. Colton was now Pickles. The shelter rebranded him because, apparently he’s like a piglet… pickles? 

But Pickles was struggling. At the shelter, the trauma consumed him. He barked incessantly, jumped against the walls of his kennel, and snapped at staff members in frustration. 

One day a family arrived to meet him— but they brought children with them, and for Pickles, that was too much. His fear and anxiety overwhelmed him, and he shut down. He avoided the kids and kept his distance, and the family realized that he wasn’t the right fit for them. The shelter staff was left with heavy hearts, unsure what would come next for Pickles.

Pickles’ behavior was becoming more unpredictable, and the staff had tried everything they could, but nothing seemed to help. They began discussing behavioral euthanasia. It seemed like there was no way out for Pickles, no way for him to escape the endless cycle of fear and frustration.

Before that decision could be made, That’s when we walked in.

Our journey to adopt Petey wasn’t instant—but we were determined. After all, we fell in love with him right away. We visited him at the shelter for two weekends in a row—Saturdays and Sundays. Every time we saw him, we could feel the stress and anxiety, but we could also sense a happy, fun-loving guy. We saw potential. It was clear he just needed someone who understood him, someone who had the patience for him. 

My wife and I are uniquely equipped to adopt him. But we also knew it wouldn’t be easy. The staff reminded us that it wouldn’t be easy, just in case there was a moment we thought it would. This kept us grounded and it helped us prepare for our future together. 

After those weekend visits, we brought him home for a 4-hour trial run on a Thursday afternoon, just to see how he’d settle in. It was clear he was ready for a change. For my wife and I who lost our old dog, Michael only a year ago, just having a dog in our apartment felt like our home had been given new life. The visit went so well. He played. Cuddled with us. And went for a couple of walks. 

While initially, the shelter recommended that it would benefit Petey to have a couple of home visits before being fully adopted, seeing how well he did with us, they made plans to streamline our process. We were hoping to bring him home in two weeks for the Christmas holidays, as that will be when we will both have time off from work to get him settled. 

Then we returned to the shelter the following Saturday, two days after his home visit, thinking it was just another playdate. But the staff had other plans. They could see how he was struggling at the shelter, how miserable he was in comparison to how well he was doing with us. They asked us straight up, “Can you take him today?” 

We weren’t necessarily ready for him that day. We had plans that weekend and we still needed to proof the house for him. But hearing that he was struggling in the shelter, there was no way we could leave him there for another day let alone another week for our convenience. 

And just like that, Petey came home with us.

From the moment he entered our home, it was as if everything clicked. He knew he was in his new home. Many rescue dogs are nervous or even standoffish when they first meet their new owners, but not Petey. Perhaps guided by the spirit of Michael, he was immediately comfortable, curling up in our laps and making himself home. We knew we needed to train him and there was a lot of work ahead, but one thing was clear: he knew he had found his family.

This is Petey’s story. A dog who escaped a dire situation, and now, he’s ready to take on the world… but first, he needs to get over his trauma. This is the start of his journey to being the best dog he can be. 

Stay tuned for more updates on Petey! 

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