Names: Mari (approx. 4 y/o) & Drogo (approx. 1 1/2 y/o)
Family Members: Alex & Haley, Cats: Valyria, Taco & Tequila
How long has Mari & Drogo been in the family? Mari has been with us for 2 years and Drogo for about 9 months.
Professions: Alex is a is a full-time student, soon to be a high school history teacher. Haley is an Employee Benefits Consultant.
Location: Marietta, GA
Nicknames: Mari: MarBear, Scary Mari (because she can be a scaredy-cat!), Sweet Mari
Drogo: Drogito & Goofy
Mari
Drogo
5 of the best words/phrases that describe Mari and Drogo?
Mari:
- SWEET! She is the sweetest baby ever!
- Playful & Active – she loves playing with other pups and running around with her brother.
- Skittish – loud noises and new people still scare her sometimes
- Butterfly – I say this because she has really transformed since she was originally rescued. While she’s still skittish at times, she has really come out of her shell and learned that most people are kind. She will actually approach new people now which she was too scared to do when we first brought her home.
- Piggy – we sometimes say she reminds us of a pig when she eats because she gets so excited about food and eats so fast she snorts!
Drogo:
- Goofy
- Such a lover! He has no concept of personal space, ha!
- All boy!
- Clumsy
- Strong, but has no idea.
What makes Mari & Drogo unique? Mari’s nose is in the shape of a heart, which is so adorable! When she’s comfortable with a person, she touches them with her nose, it’s almost like she wants to share her heart with them and that is her way of doing it.
Drogo has this look he gives you when he wants something. It’s like the sweetest, saddest face all wrapped into one expression. I can’t quite describe it in words, but Alex and I think it’s hilarious and so precious. We usually mimic this look when we talk about him.
Mari in a full stretch out!
Drogo loves a good game of fetch!
Rescue Story: We had another dog named Lucy, who was a lab-pit mix. She was a very sweet dog, but extremely dominant. She liked other dogs, but was picky about who she let in her circle, so we knew we wanted another dog but knew it had to be just the right fit to get along with our Lucy. I was connected to Neely (Shine A Light's first volunteer) on Facebook through a college friend. Shortly after, Neely brought Mari home as a foster. As soon as I saw Mari’s photos I was in love with her sweet face! Neely’s description of her sounded perfect for our family, so we set up a meet-and-greet with her and Lucy. Needless to say, it went very well! Mari then came to stay for a weekend at our house and Lucy loved every second of it! Lucy was even sad after Mari left, and would lay in the spot where Mari’s crate had been – which was definitely not a normal spot for her!! That was it for us. We decided Mari belonged in our family and we moved forward with the adoption, which was so easy through the Fulton County Animal Shelter. As for her history, she was rescued out of a large dog-fighting operation in Coweta county Georgia. She was one of only a few dogs that were able to be rehabilitated from the rescue. We don’t know too much other than that, but it was clear that she had already had puppies at a very young age and had not been well treated. We are so grateful that Mari was rescued and that she found her way to us. She really is the sweetest pup and is such a perfect addition to our family!
Similar to Mari, we found Drogo (who was named Mark at the time) via Facebook because Neely was fostering him. We had recently lost our dog, Lucy, and Mari had become extremely depressed. We watched our sweet girl go from a dog who was loving life (and food!), to a dog who laid around with the saddest expression all day and would hardly touch her food. It was so sad!! Then enter Drogo. He reminded us of Lucy in his photos, as he was the same coloring (black with a white chest). He seemed to have a very sweet demeanor about him, so we brought him home for the weekend just to play with Mari. He never left! We fell in love and decided he was ours.
We don’t know too much about Drogo’s history. He was found wandering on the side of a busy highway in Atlanta when he was rescued. He doesn’t seem to have been abused or mistreated. He was just a sweet boy who needed a home.
It's offical!
Drogo's first day in his forever home with his new sister!
What is your favorite pastime as a family? I (Haley) probably most enjoy my (almost) daily walks with Mari. It’s usually just me and her, and she gets so excited to go! Our neighbors love her and stop to say hello. She has a few other canine friends along our walking route who will come out to play sometimes. Talk about excitement!! Tails wagging, Mari gets so excited she jumps crazy high in the air when she sees her friends. It’s really funny and I love knowing that she gets so much joy out of it!
Tennis balls. That pretty much sums up Drogo’s obsession in life. Alex is constantly buying him new tennis balls because not only does he like to fetch them, but then he likes to shred them (and I’m pretty sure he eats part of them too). It seems like no matter how diligent we are in picking up all the tennis balls, he always seems to have more stashed away that he brings out. I’ve seen him with FIVE tennis balls in his mouth and he doesn’t seem to think anything of it! He’s pretty obsessed and will play fetch for hours and show no signs of fatigue. Alex spends a lot of time throwing the tennis ball for Drogo and even has a “gun” that shoots them out. Drogo thinks that is the best thing ever!
What is life like since you rescued Mari & Drogo? Life is good. Mari loves napping in the sunshine, playing with her brother, snuggling with her feline siblings, and of course mealtime. She really is the perfect dog (even if she is a little noisy sometimes). I can’t say enough how grateful we are for her and that she was rescued out of an awful situation. It was a bit of process to win her trust in the beginning, but she’s really overcome so many of her fears and is loving life as a family dog!!
A little more messy with Drogo. Drogo is a big boy and is always getting into something. We’re still working to get him fully trained – it’s a process – but he’s getting the hang of it now. Even more than the mess though, there’s a lot more love. If he’s not playing fetch or inhaling a bone, he wants to be IN our laps – like, seriously, maybe even BE our lap. As close as he can get to you, that’s where he wants to be. It’s really sweet….and heavy. Mari is of course so much happier with him around and has even taken a bit of the dominant “big sister” role in the family. They are perfect together and we think Drogo is wonderful for our family.
Photographers Note: I love that Shine a Light gets to be part of these two pups full circle. Both dogs being fostered by our very first volunteer on the project and on top of that I had the opportunity to meet both of these dogs while they were being fostered. Now to see them both so happy in their forever homes, really is something wonderful to witness. As Haley mentioned not much is known of Drogo's past but he was and still is a happy, goofy, loving boy. Mari on the other hand is a complete transformation. When I went to Neely & Joe's (foster family) for their photo shoot, Mari had only been there a short while. She was so shy and unsure of herself, would not come near me at all. She ran to the far reaches of their yard. I had to use my zoom lense to get a few shots of her to put on the Facebook Foster Album. To see her now, it's like night and day. She walked right up to me, tail wagging, let me pet her...we walked by a gentlemen sitting on a bench and she walked right over to him to say Hello! She is just so happy and relaxed.
So often we get invested in dogs that we see on social media through the various rescues and shelters that do a great job of posting them. We may see an update that they have been adopted, but rarely do you get to see after time has passed how they are thriving. So happy we were able to feature this story and see exactly that...their journey full circle!