PATCHES


My name is Scot Thomas.  I am a single father of a 6 year old autistic boy.My son, Alexander has never really been interested in anything other than a few toys, and books.  Recently he had been showing interest in my mother’s 2 dachshunds.  Once he began playing and talking to the pups, I began a search for a puppy of his own.  An add on Petfinder.com led me to Palacios Pet Pals and Debbie Murray.  She helped me add a little Dapple baby by the name of Patches.  After going through the screening, and driving from the Rio Grande Valley to Palacios to pick her up I introduced my son to the puppy.  While I can’t say it was love at first sight, it surely was friendship at first sight.  Alexander and Patches spend hours together in the back yard, and Alexander has even started helping feed her.  Patches has taken on a guardian role with Alexander when they’re outside.  She will actually herd him, and guide him around because he spends a lot of time looking at things in his hands.  If they wander to a part of the yard where Patches can’t see me she will bark to let me know something out of the ordinary is happening.  It’s really been a beautiful turn around in my son.  Who until Patches came into our lives, had never really interacted with another living thing for more than a few minutes.  I couldn’t have found the wonderful little sister he needed without the help of Palacios Pet Pals and Debbie.

Adoption Stories

sam and Luke


My family was thinking about adopting a pet so we began to look around. We went to several shelters, but they were so loud that my son, Luke, who is severely autistic, could not handle the environment. He showed no interest in a dog. One day we were out shopping and saw the animals in PETCO. I was shocked when Luke, who can not speak, went right over to Sam. He sat down next to him and started to play with his ears and kept laughing and laughing. Sam was a perfect gentleman and let Luke have his fun, not showing any sign of distress even though Sam was in a strange place and a very strange little boy was poking at him. After a time, to my amazement, Luke picked up one of the leashed and handed it to the person in charge. He wanted to walk Sam!!! The people at PETCO and the Palacios Pet Pals were so friendly and helpful that Luke got to walk that dog right in the store! I thought it was cute, but I was not ready for a dog and we were going on vacation so I did not take Sam home. Two weeks later we returned to PETCO and the moment Luke saw Sam, he would not leave his side. So we brought him home. Sam now has so many hugs and hands that want to pet him that he gets to decide where he wants to hangout in our house. Most of the time it is right next to Luke on his pillow. Because Luke can't talk, it is sometimes difficult to know what he wants, but Sam seems to know what Luke needs when we can't figure it out, I never knew an animal could do that! Sam has a job to do in keeping track of Luke, but he takes it very seriously and is rewarded with more love (and doggie treats) then I thought possible. Thank you so much to Palacios Pet Pals for taking such great care of Sam and to PETCO for allowing the organization to bring him into the store so that my family could find it's newest member.

​Thank you,
​Heidi, Luke, Bridge4e, Athena, Holly and Sam

PET PALS