“Her name is Tutti. Like Tutti Frutti. She’s a Chinese Crested/Jack-A-Poo mix. When she was very young, the people who had her stepped on her. They said the kids were real mean to her. So we ended up taking her.

“She has luxating patellas. Her back legs are out of place because of it. The vet said it would be $2,500 a leg to fix, but I didn’t have the money at the time. So she’s had to adapt.

“She couldn’t walk the first year of her life. She would take a few steps and fall over. I had to carry her everywhere. She’s 4 1/2 now. She only walks so many steps before getting tired. Then she kind of bunny hops. But she’s not in pain or anything. She’s a good, happy little girl. And she’s spoiled rotten. She’s like my baby. When my daughter went off to college, Tutti was like a mini-replacement.

“My daughter and I are very close. I was a single mom. It was always just me and her. Then I got my husband when she was 12. She’s about to turn 24. She graduated from Baylor University, and now she’s in Baylor Law School. She’s thinking about doing environmental or immigration law.

“She’s overcome a lot in life. She has Asperger’s. I didn’t know for sure until her first year in high school, when a counselor mentioned it. It’s been challenging, but she hasn’t let it stop her. She’s extremely smart. She made straight A’s all through school. She graduated high school with lots of honors. She was in honor society in high school and college.

“I’m very proud of her accomplishments. But I’m even more proud of how she’s grown as a person. She cares about others. She wants to help people. All I ever wanted was for her to be a good person and to be successful in life.

“I was a high school dropout. I left after ninth grade. Just getting in trouble with my friends. No support at home. No aspirations in life. When I was 21 and had my daughter, I was determined that she would have a better life and do better than I did.

“She’s the first love of my life. This baby here is second. My husband may not like to hear that. But my children are special to me.”

— Rhonda

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“Rainy days and Mondays always get me down. Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy.”
Do you always speak so lyrically?
“Express yourself, and let me be me.”
— Berny

This Dalmatian was a 4-week-old puppy with a bad case of heart worms when he was found during a summer trip to Mexico.

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“Sometimes in life you get blindsided. But if you keep looking forward with your good eye, you may find your best friend.”
— Hershey

This chocolate Lab was dumped in the Cove area, before finding its forever home.

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Your owner says you have destroyed five dog beds.
“Those were beds? I thought they were fluffy kill toys. I love, love, love puffs of fluff.”
She says she’s not buying you any more beds.
“She did? I don’t believe you. She always brings me treats.” 
— Lola, unclaimed stray who found a forever home

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“Do you have any peanut butter?”
— Canelo

Found as a puppy near the Baytown mall, he was named after the boxer because he was a little fighter.

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“I often wonder what I would look like with blue hair.”
— Scruffy, a Poodle mix with yellow eyes

Scruffy was a puppy when he was hit by a car, and a veterinarian took pity on the pup. The staff that nursed him back to health fell in love with him.

One of the vet’s assistants found Scruffy a forever home with a relative, whose wife had died of cancer two years earlier. Scruffy’s owner remembers that his sister-in-law simply told him: “You need to have a pet.” Then he had a new friend and great watchdog.

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Meet Doji, a happy boy with muddy paws. The dog dumped in Crosby found a new home with a day trader.

“My son-in-law brought him to me. I hadn’t had a dog in 20 years.”

Doji got his name from a term that indicates indecision in the market, because the day trader was undecided about the dog. They are still together 2 1/2 years later.

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“Wait here’s another one: What did Timmy say when the bear ate Lassie? Well, doggone!”
— Penny, a pitbull mix

“We just found her when she was a little puppy. I think somebody dropped off a bunch of them. She kind of worked her way into the family. We weren’t planning on having a pet, but you can’t turn down a little puppy on the side of the road.”

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“I don’t like to talk about my past.” 
— Major Payne, a Lhasa mix, picked up near Interstate 10

“My wife, my daughter and my granddaughter found him. He had his collar and tags on. We called the vet that was on the tag. We said we’re going to take him, and if anybody calls, here’s our number. That’s been seven years. He was from Fredericksburg, Texas, and we found him in Columbus. That’s 150 miles from home. The vet had been taking care of this dog since he was born. They never heard from the owners, and the owners’ phone was disconnected.

“He’s spoiled rotten. He loves cheese. He knows that at 7 o’clock at night he gets a slice of cheese.”

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“You can’t have too many friends.”
— Miley, breed unknown

“We got her from A Pet’s Wish. She’s a rescue dog. We were in the process of looking for a dog, but we wanted to find that one special dog. When we walked up to the area where she was, she immediately got drawn to my son. When I looked at her eyes I thought, this is our dog. There was just something in her eyes. She’s been incredible.”

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