new dog, now named Notorious, at home in Spokane, WA. Eight years later, Notorious is still happy and spunky and enjoys running 5Ks in her wheelchair, even though she's about nine or ten years old.

"As soon as I let her off the leash, she's barreling down the hill, and she's just got no fear of anything. So she kind of takes the lead, and I just follow her. She doesn't realize that she's disabled, and I don't need to tell her," Cheyeanne laughs.

Cheyeanne's other dog, Shady, was also love at first sight but in a different way. Most shelter pets need to have some time to warm up to their new owners and lives, but Shady knew how to trust and love everyone from the word go, and she took to Cheyeanne immediately. For her part, Cheyeanne was keen on adopting another "unadoptable" rescue, so the very loveable Shady didn't seem like quite the right fit at first.

"When I met Shady, she was just adorable. She was a hug and a love, and her little white tail was wagging, and I told the the people at the rescue, ‘I don't need to adopt this dog. This dog is gonna find a home. This is not a hard-to-place dog. And they told me, unfortunately, that she's a special needs dog and she's gonna be harder to adopt because people want an animal that serves some kind of purpose."