I don't know if this is a true "rescue" story, but here's how we got our little Molly:

I believe Molly was meant to be with us because of the way we got her. My hubby and I had gone to pick out a black lab from a litter on a Saturday in August. The puppies were only 3 weeks old, but we picked one out, took a picture of me holding it, and went home, excited for the next month when we'd be able to pick her up. The next day, the breeder called to tell us that the puppy had died during the night. We were devastated, and were especially sad when I got the pictures developed later that day and saw her sweet little face. We moped around that night, looking at the little collar, toys, and crate we had bought for her, then went off to work the next day. At 8:30am, my sister-in-law called me to say that her boss had brought a 7-week old female yellow lab to work to try to find a good home for her. Apparently she (the boss) had gone to PetSmart the previous day and met a woman outside trying to sell the puppy -- the woman had bought it the day before, but had just lost her dog of 15 years and decided it was too soon -- she wasn't over the loss of her pet yet. So my SIL's boss bought the dog so that she'd be sure it went to a good home -- she didn't want just anyone to come along and buy it from this woman. She brought it to work because she knew that my SIL loves labs, and my SIL told her the story of how my hubby and I had just lost the lab we picked out. So, my SIL called me, and I immediately went down to see the puppy, fell in love, and brought her home within the hour. It still amazes me how all those events with all those unacquainted people coincided to bring Molly into our lives.

A couple weeks ago, I called the woman who had sold her outside PetSmart to ask her to sign a transfer of ownership form so that we can register Molly, and she was sooo nice. She started crying, saying how giving her up was so difficult, and she worried every day that she was okay. She was so glad to hear my story, and she said she believes that Molly is where she's supposed to be now. I mailed her some photographs, and she sent me back a really nice letter.

What a nice story! Sounds like she's found the perfect home!

Both of my labs have been adopted.
About ten years ago I moved out to South Dakota for graduate school. After six months of missing the family dogs, I started whining about wanting a dog, and how I was thinking of going to look at a shelter, but I didn't know what to get (family dogs were Bassets, not really hiking/running companions! :)) My friends got really tired of hearing about it. One day I was walking back to my apartment complex and found a skinny yellow lab wandering around the back in a junkyard (great view from the apartment!) he had a collar on, but no tags.
He didn't really want to come in to my apartment, but he was sooo skinny and had very swollen ticks all over his back, so I kind of half dragged him in to feed him. He was so wel behaved - housebroken, didn't touch anything or even wlk around to smell stuff. Just kind of sat and looked at me (with a bit of suspicion, I admit - but not after the bratwurst came out!)
Now, keep in mind that this is a very small town. Only two small grocery stores, and then you'd have to drive 45 minutes to get to the next. So I figured hanging up signs in the grocery stores would be the easiest way to reach everyone around, right? I put up signs, and called the dog shelter. They wanted me to bring him, but I said I would keep him until he was claimed. After a few days of no response, I thought I'd leave the signs up for three weeks.
A couple of days after I had found him, we were walking around town and I discovered he would sit at the street corners for me. So I tried a few other commands and discovered he was really quite well trained! I had never had a trained dog - this one would heel and everything! Wow! Then we had to go on a trip for a weekend, and I absolutely fell in love with him. On day 10 the signs came down. I hadn't received a single inquiry.
Near as anyone could figure out, he was a started hunting dog who was really gun shy (he never even liked cameras) - fully trained, well behaved, smart as a whip. He passed away in September after two surgeries for abdominal cancer, and can never be replaced.
He can however, be succeeded - enter Wellie!
Shortly after Oscar passed I contacted a rescue group about a 1/12 yr old dog - I got to meet him just a few days later. He didn't look anything like Oscar in the face, but a friend had said NOT to get one that looked the same or I'd be comparing them all the time. My fiance sat down on the ground, this dog crawled onto his lap, and he said "He'll do!"
All I know about him is that they say he was a stray - he's covered in little scratch scars - but just after a month he's turning out to be a fabulous dog! He's had some basic training, but we're starting first-time school on Tuesday anyway. I'm getting him in shape for running (up to five miles now!), and he gets along with our family Golden Retrievers wonderfully (are we going to grandmas??? yay!!)

Somehow, they seem extra-appreciative when you've rescued them. I'm dying to get a pup someday, but my rescued boys are irreplaceable.

Give Molly a hug for us!

Hey canter, that is about the way we got our Hunter.

We had picked out a male pup from another litter when he was 3 weeks old, and were waiting until we could adopt him at 8. The day before we picked him up, the breeder had called and told us that our pup and 3 littermates had died of heart complications.

I was 7 at the time, and my sisters were younger and we were all very sad that we wouldn't be getting a puppy any more. Then my dad went TDY to Texas for the week and came home with Hunter!!

When he was 7 months old, the vet diagnosed him with hip dysplacia and the breeder offered to take him back and give us a new pup, but we loved him too much by then and kept him. ^_^ he lived to almost 10 years and the dysplacia wasn't what killed him in the end, it was something wrong with his throat.

My Trakker I adopted from the Humane Society when she was barely 7 weeks old. ^_^

canter. of course this is a rescue story! You rescued Molly from an unknown present to a loving present with a stable future thrown in to boot!

diver03, I think Oscar was meant to be yours. I'm so sorry he died. It sounds like Wellie is a great running companion. I hope you guys enjoyed dog school.

huntersmom, it is so sad to lose a puppy; I don't know what TDY means, but wasn't it great that you got Hunter when your Dad returned!

Thanks, y'all, for sharing your stories.

TDY is a military thing... not quite sure what it stands for.. temporary departure y??? Lol. My dad would go away to TX and Georgia every two weeks because of meetings for the Air Force while we were stationed in Louisiana.

He always brought us back presents from his trips, but Hunter was the best one!!