Meet Blue + Abound Giveaway

Meet the newest member of our family, Blue. Or as we sometimes call him, Blueberry. Or Blue Magoo. Or Mr. Magoobers. Or our newest nickname, Booberry. A German Shorthair Pointer, our three-legged rescue is the sweetest, cuddliest, most ball obsessed dog there is. He’s only been with us a few months but has quickly squirmed his way into our home and hearts.

Thank you to Abound for sponsoring the giveaway at the end of this post! 
*THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED*

If you follow me on Instagram than you’ve likely seen pictures of Blue and our other dog, Nacho, spooning their doggie hearts out. You can see them all if you search the hashtag #NachoandBlue on Instagram. I thought Blue deserved a proper introduction and an entire post because his story is so awesome. And the bond he and Nacho share is nothing short of amazing. It is truly the best thing ever.

We weren’t looking to get another dog. My husband is adamantly a one dog kind of guy. But the thing is, Nacho, our 1.5 Lab mix is a handful. And I mean handful. Let’s just say she comes by the nickname “Naughty Nacho” honestly. While she’s a total lover and SO good with the kids and other dogs and people, she’s also full of energy and never seems to tire. And she likes to chew when you leave her alone. I couldn’t help but wonder if she’d do better with another dog to entertain her. So I guess when I say we weren’t looking to get another dog, what I really meant is my husband wasn’t looking to get another dog. I was totally open to the idea.

We send Naughty Nacho to a local doggy daycare, Fetch. It’s pretty much this awesome place where Nacho can go run around like a mad woman with all her doggy friends and then come home exhausted. Seriously, it’s the best. In January when it was snowing feet of snow in Park City and because we couldn’t get Nacho the kind of exercise she needed (duh- we were snowboarding everyday!), we were sending her a few times a week. She also did some overnights as we were spending the weekends at our favorite ski resort. This is how we met Blue.

Blue was hit by a car on Thanksgiving. The owners, for whatever reason, choose to euthanize him. I can’t imagine making that choice and I’ve had to let it go because otherwise I drive myself crazy wondering if his last family misses him or why they made/had to make that choice. Blue was in pretty bad shape. But the vet tech saw something in him and got the owners to sign him over to her care. She then found a vet to perform the necessary procedure(s) to save Blue. To the angels at Advanced Veterinary Care in Salt Lake, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart! Blue ended up losing his back right leg and his back left paw was pretty beat up as well. The vet tech that rescued him quickly started looking for a shelter that could take a dog that needed some serious TLC. Blue ended up at Nuzzles & Co., a local no-kill animal shelter in Summit County. Once he was taken in by the shelter Nuzzles needed to find a foster family that could care for a dog that needed special attention because of his state. That’s where Fetch comes in! Tori (who runs the joint) along with her parents, took Blue in and gave him the care he needed to get back on his feet.

Nacho took a liking to Blue immediately. As in they were sleeping together each night and quickly became inseparable. I got text when we were at Powder Mountain one weekend with a picture of Blue and Nacho spooning and a quick one liner from Tori saying that she a had a dog she thought we should meet. The rest, they say, is history. I begged my husband to meet Blue. He resisted. We met him. I then begged my husband to let us foster him for a week or so just to see how he would fit into our family. Again, my husband resisted. We fostered him anyway. The boys and I were all in and totally smitten from the get go. It’s like Blue knew he had to win my husband over because he would follow my husband around and snuggle up to him whenever he sat down on the couch or bed. He would literally climb on my husband, like a lap dog, and burrow himself into my husbands side. I quickly saw my husband falling for him one snuggle at a time. On day three of fostering Blue, my husband came out of the bedroom and said, “Do you know what Nacho just told me?” “What?” I replied, thinking that dogs don’t talk but whatever. “Nacho told me that because we saved her, she wanted to pay it forward and save Blue. So if you want to keep him I guess I’m board.”

We officially adopted him that week.

These dogs have an awesome love story. And they’re best friends for sure. And even though we technically rescued these dogs, Nacho really rescued Blue. And they, with a doubt, give us exponentially more than we could ever give them. Sure we give them a warm bed, food, exercise and love but what they give us is so much more. These dogs love and protect my boys. They love and protect each other. They give me a reason to get outside every day and walk them. They are simply the best. And WE are the lucky ones to have them. Not the other way around. Not a day goes by that either my boys, myself or my husband (who’s fallen for Blue the hardest, btw) say how happy we are that Blue is in our family. As Jerry Maguire would say, he completes us. 🙂

Because this is such a feel good post today, I’m teaming up with Abound Natural Pet Food for a fun giveaway and I’m thrilled about it. I’ve has an awesome relationship with Abound for awhile now- they used to send my sweet Chubby the best care packages- and since adopting Nacho and Blue, they’ve been SO encouraging and supportive. In fact, when I told them my older soon has been loving taking extra treats and food to the shelter to share, Abound sent me a stack of coupons to pay forward to the shelter and Fetch. In one word: awesome! Since Abound is a Kroger company, you can find their products at your local Kroger (Smiths in Utah) making it an easy one stop shopping! We love to use the Wet Food in cans as a filler in Kongs. I freeze them and use them as a special treat for the doggies. The Grain Free Sticks are how I lure them into their crates when we have to leave the house!

Abound has graciously offered to host a giveaway in honor of Blue’s story!
The giveaway will include:

-Coupon for free ABOUND dry dog or cat food
-Dog treats
-$100 Kroger gift card
-Stylish collapsible bowl (which is awesome for hiking. It clips on top my pants and I can easily fill it with water or food for the dogs!)

Thanks for taking the time to read Blue’s story. He, Nacho and the rest of our family thank you! Have a great weekend! xo, Kelley

a Rafflecopter giveaway

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:
*Giveaway is open to US residents only. Abound will follow through with giveaway and send you the prize(s). Kroger is sponsoring the giveaway and all opinions are, of course, my own. Giveaway ends at midnight MST on Sunday, April 2nd. You can enter the giveaway by completing the rafflecopter below. Good luck!!!
*GIVEAWY WINNER IS KARA, PLEASE CHECK YOUR EMAIL!*