Wonda and Winnie

We decided to keep their names as is. We already loved the name Winnie and Wonda…well we kept forgetting to call her the new name ha. They quickly and famously became known as W&W in our family. I had recently and unexpectedly had to put my 1st dog down and my current dog Ben and I were devastated and lonely without our little buddy. While in the middle of a pandemic, we joined many others in the search for a new furry family member. Due to shutdowns and worldwide layoffs, I found that my usual go to local shelters either didn’t have any dogs that met my search criteria, or took far too long to eventually get back to me. I stumbled upon Life of Hope and immediately fell in love with Winnie’s unique coloring and markings and began looking up ‘Formosan Mountain Dogs’. LHF was amazing with keeping me up to date on how my future loved ones were doing. They gave extensive detail on the animal’s behavior and character traits, and sent me countless amounts of videos and photos which is what ultimately sold me. Having never adopted from overseas, I was highly skeptical on whether or not this was something legit. That moment at the airport when I saw the many large kennels appear from baggage claim quickly put all my doubts at bay. It was such a beautiful moment and the people I met were both professional and kind. I can’t thank them enough for all they do to save animals and give them a better life. Some things I wish I had thought to bring: scissors (everything on the kennels is zip tied for flying, a large tarp or old blanket/sheet to lay down on the inside of my car, and dog treats-to help ease the fact that I was a total stranger to them. For some reason the common sense aspect of a dog traveling on a plane from Taiwan and being stuck in a kennel escaped me. Their cages were sadly and understandably soiled and I wasn’t thinking about the fact that those would have to be placed directly in my car. I ended up asking an airport employee for some large trash bags to lay down over my folded back seats. They had understandably warned me that once home W&W would most likely be too shy to come out from their kennels or approach us but, that it would get better with time. Much to my pleasant surprise, they ran out right away to happily play in my yard and give us sniffs of approval. The transition was difficult for a few weeks but I wouldn’t change anything. It’s amazing to see how quickly these dogs have become the sweetest things ever, even after all the pain they have been through. W&W enjoy sun bathing, belly rubs, and going to my parents house and following them around like a shadow. I would definitely use LHF in the future and will happily recommend them to anyone who inquires about my dog story.