Penne’s Story, by Danielle Salvaggio

I’ve been living in San Francisco for 15 years, dog-sitting since 2024 and spending many days with my sister's dog Toast. I’ve met many incredible dogs ─ like a pitbull mix named Callie, a staffy named Ferdinand, a pittie named Rosie, and a German shepherd named Kane. And while dog-sitting has been very rewarding, I recently realized I wanted a dog of my own!

Dogs are amazing, with their silly personalities and big hearts. My sister's dog and many of my dog-sitting clients were rescues, and I knew that’s what I wanted to do as well. I was open to adopting any type of dog but really gravitated toward pitbulls, since so many of them get a bad rap. 

The Journey Begins

Once I started looking, I realized there were many available dogs across so many amazing rescues in the Bay Area like Pets in Need, Rocket Dog Rescue, and SF SPCA. And then I spotted Penny on the Pets in Need site, and I just knew she was the one. Her sweet little face completely won me over, and both my sister and my husband agreed she was perfect!

Knowing that shelter adoptions are on a “first come first serve” basis, my husband and I arrived at Pets in Need in Palo Alto first thing Saturday morning ─ about 10 minutes after they opened. Unfortunately, someone had just arrived ahead of us and was asking to meet her. While I was trying not to freak out about that, we decided to see what other dogs were available but none of them connected with us the way Penny had. And then, just as all seemed lost, the woman ahead of us walked out the door. Amazing! Fate had intervened and Penny was ours if we wanted her.

When we entered her large play area, she ran right up to us, showing her belly and wanting us to play with her ball. She was incredibly friendly and it took us less than 10 minutes to know she was our dog. We couldn’t sign the paperwork fast enough (at that point, we weren’t going to take any chances)!

While talking with the PIN team, we also learned she had been at the shelter for a while and had been on many different field trips. They gave us all her excellent report cards, which are very cute and we still have them.

Penny Becomes Penne

While we were leaving, the PIN team graciously gave us her favorite toy, a stuffed duck, and we jumped in the car to start our drive back to SF. Within 5 minutes, she had ripped the duck's head off, leaving a bunch of stuffing hanging out of her mouth. She looked so silly and we knew right then she was going to be a handful ─ with lots of personality and mischief-making to come!

We also discussed names. Since I’m Italian, I thought it was only fitting that our dog would be named after a pasta. We decided on Penne, short for Penne Rigate, because it was close enough to Penny and would be easy for her to recognize. We also took her for a bath, and she did great. That said, she may not be the biggest fan of the blow-dryer!

Settling In

Overall, it’s been so interesting to watch Penne settle into her new routine.

At the beginning, when we gave her a bone or a treat, she would immediately go off to hide it. We had to continually reassure her that no one was going to take her bone, and there were more where that came from. She seems to be getting more comfortable and hiding bones less often, but sometimes will try to hide her corn toy, albeit kind of badly. Until she’s more secure, we might need to “up our bone and treat budget.”

Our first night with her, we escorted her to the dog bed on the floor beside us, but she immediately jumped up on our bed with a big doggie smile on her face. We tried to move her down to her bed several more times, but always with the same result. So of course, now she starts out at the foot of the bed, slowly making her way up to the top bed throughout the night. My husband said, “No dogs on the bed,” but it’s now been more than a month, and she has only slept on our bed with us.

Personal Favorites

Penne loves our daily walks, enjoying every new smell. She loves cuddling on the couch, and she loves playing tug-of-war with my husband. Her zoomies are also unmatched ─ she will do a couple of world-class laps across the apartment and then collapse in a heap to recharge her batteries.

My favorite quirk of hers is when someone comes to the door. She loves to meet new people and will grab one of her toys or my husband’s slipper to bring as a greeting. Her whole body is moving back and forth, and her tail is wagging so hard, it’s knocking things over!

She’s also the best cuddler, and at 65 pounds, still thinks she’s a lap dog! She will lay across your lap, or use your leg as a chin rest, and she also loves to be bundled up in a blanket. Wherever I am, she is always close by.

She’s the Best!

There are so many wonderful animals at shelters just waiting for the perfect family to take them home. Only having Penne this short time, we know how fortunate we are to have her. She’s the sweetest dog ever, and she seems very happy to be with us as well. We feel very lucky that the stars aligned and brought us all together.