This is our 9-month old Catahoula mix, Baloo who we rescued through the Bastrop Animal Rescue, outside of Austin, TX.

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I’d had my heart set on adopting a dog for years, but I didn’t have the right lifestyle or living situation until I moved to Austin last year.

When we were just getting settled, my girlfriend and I decided it would be great dog-mom training to foster.

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We met and fostered a beautiful shepherd puppy through Austin Pets Alive! which was an amazing, completely fulfilling experience. She arrived to us from a rescue several states away, covered in fleas, and not at all used to home living. When she was adopted by an incredibly loving family a few weeks later (spoiler alert: I cried for days) I knew we were ready to give another dog a supportive and happy home.

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I began searching Petfinder *ahem* every day and night for weeks, in the Austin area. We set our search radius to 25 miles, and I found Baloo on the very last of many, many pages of sweet adoptable dogs. I reached out to his foster mom and to our surprise, we were the first to inquire about this little cutie.

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We visited her home which was a lively place with 5 dogs of her own, plus Baloo and his littermate, Koda. We fell hard for Baloo’s shy, clumsy, goofy, super-sweet personality – traits he’s only grown into in the months we’ve been together. He’s gained a lot of confidence (although he’s still startled by strange objects, like a canoe or a tandem bike) and he loves to learn and see new things.

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The best part is my co-worker saw both puppies on my Instagram and went the same week to visit the foster’s home and adopted his brother, Koda ! Both boys are happy, healthy, and rowdy as ever.

This story originally appeared at Positively Woof by Larry Kay.