Kristen, a volunteer dog walker at Nevada Humane Society (NHS), was mourning the loss of her beloved dog Petey when she came across Peanut, the rescue dog, and his large ears.
Peanut’s owners surrendered him when they couldn’t take care of him. Peanut came to the shelter with a horrible mouth infection which was causing him a lot of pain.
To calm him down, the shelter put him in the puppy nursery. However, they knew he needed to find a forever home, so the shelter asked Kristen if she would be interested in fostering him.
“He was scared. It was new for him, you know, he had just been with the same family. He had a really severe mouth infection, so he wasn’t feeling his best. So I just took him in, but only intended to foster him. And after about a week, I was like, I love this little guy,” shared Peanut’s new mom, Kristen.
Peanut is about nine years old, and the most frequent question that people ask his mom is, “what kind of dog is that?!”.
Well, it’s no doubt that Peanut is an adorable pup, but she was curious to find out more about him, so she thought up the perfect shelter fundraiser. She named it “Peanut: One Tough Mutt to Crack.” People made donations to the shelter and then guessed what kind of dog Peanut was.
She also did a DNA test, and the results were surprising. “He’s a mix of 12 different breeds but nothing that he looks like.”
“Most people (myself included) can’t believe it, and we ended up doing two different DNA tests, and they came back exactly the same,” shared Kristen.
Chihuahua and Dachshund are the top two breeds, accounting for 50% of his DNA.
His looks and size seem to shock people. People assume that he’s rather bigger in photos than his actual size, so his mom started posting his pictures right next to food items to show his size to scale.
The adorable and cuddly pup charms everyone he meets and is comfortable as long as his mother is nearby.
“He’s really kind of one of those dogs that’s up for anything as long as I’m with him, he’s like, OK, mom, let’s go. So whether it’s a walk, whether it’s going to an event to support Nevada Humane Society or another rescue, he’s just, he’s always up for whatever as long as his mom is with him.” Kristen shared.
Peanut can be a picky eater, but his favorites are peanut butter (obviously) and almost any other human food he can try. He also has several nicknames considering his face and personality.
The adorable Baby-Yoda-Eared mutt found his forever home and shares it with another senior rescue dog, two foster dogs, and a cat. Kristen does a lot to help homeless animals and peanut seems to be playing his part as well.
When not working as a therapy dog, he attends events or raises funds for the shelter that took him in. He has raised over $8,000 for homeless pets, but his work is far from done. Peanut will probably continue being a voice (or face) for homeless animals, and he hopes everyone will consider adopting.
The senior pup advocates for shelter pets every week on #wideearwednesday, where adoptable dogs and cats at The Nevada Humane Society are featured, on his Instagram page.
Peanut and his mom motivate everyone to assist shelters now, as they are overcrowded with homeless animals. “If you can’t adopt, please foster, donate, volunteer, or share homeless animals looking for homes on your social channels – every little bit helps! NHS has two, wonderful, volunteer professional photographers who took these pics. Another way to help homeless pets – use your skills!”
Kristen has always had a soft spot for senior dogs, especially after seeing so many passes through the shelter.
She shares, “Seniors are incredible. It all started with Petey. He was eleven. We’ve adopted 11 year olds, 12 year olds, 14 year olds. They are just incredible. You never really know what their life was like before. You don’t really know how long you’re gonna have them. And I know that scares a lot of people. But I would say if you can adopt A senior, please do. They are so full of love. They are so sweet. They know you’re helping them.”
