We completed our second dog adoption from the Homeward Animal Shelter last week. Jewels, a 9-year-old beagle, is now officially a member of the McFeely home in Moorhead.

She was an unofficial member for about a month while we fostered her, waiting to see if a couple of minor health concerns could be taken care of. One was, we’re still waiting on the other, but it didn’t matter. She’s ours, we’re hers and we’ll go from here.

Our first dog was Rudy, a Labrador/pit bull mix I deemed Rudy the Rescue Dog on the airwaves of KFGO. Rudy went from an emaciated, nearly hairless street dog with sores all over his body into the healthy, 58-pound granite block he is now because he is, quite possibly, the savviest hound to survive the mean streets of Fargo-Moorhead.

When we gave Rudy a test run in our home a couple of years ago, there was one person – and only one person – who was going to make the decision whether he stayed. That would be the queen of the house, my wife Michelle. She was a person who’d never had dogs as part of her life and, understandably, harbored trepidations about beginning in mid-life. If things had gone wrong somehow, in any way, Rudy would have been sent back to the shelter.

He made sure that didn’t happen. Rudy attached himself to Michelle, made her his favorite McFeely, curled up with her in bed and after one week of a scheduled two-week test period, was adopted into our home.

Good boy.

Jewels was a different sort of shelter animal. She spent 9 years in a home, but was surrendered when her owner could no longer deal with her and another, younger beagle. She came into our house and made herself right at home, like she’d been there for years. She was mellow, friendly and got along well with Rudy and our cat, Mickey.

Good girl.

Our story is not unique to those who adopt pets from the Homeward Animal Shelter. It’s funny how certain dogs and cats just fit with certain families. One family may bring home a dog for a trial run, and it just won’t work. The next family comes along and bingo, a match made in heaven. Maybe it’s fate or maybe there is some other higher power at work. Or maybe it’s just dumb luck. Either way, it works.

And it works not only for the animals. We may have changed their lives by adopting them, but they’ve changed our lives at least as much. Our two dogs have changed our family dynamic in a positive way probably as much as Michelle and I having our daughter Emma changed us positively 14 years ago.

Here are five ways (and there are more) Rudy and Jewels have changed our lives for the better:

1) They give us a common bond. Our lives are extremely busy, and Emma is growing up way too fast, but the dogs give us one thing we all have in common – a central core our family talks about, takes care of, is responsible for and is passionate about.

2) We exercise more. The dogs need walking. The dogs need to be taken to the park. The dogs have to be taken outside for exercise. Therefore, we’ve become more active. Rudy and Jewels generally get walked at least twice a day, and that’s two more walks a day than I’d taken before we adopted them.

3) They’ve helped Emma have a better sense of responsibility. When asked, she willingly feeds and waters the dogs. If they need to be taken outside, she takes them outside. If they need to be taken for a walk, she’ll take them for a walk. Emma understands the dogs depend on us for many things, and she’s willing to help.

4) Rudy and Jewels have made our home warmer and more lively. The cliché is that no matter how bad a day you’ve had, your dogs are always happy to see you. And that is 100 percent true. But dogs literally become part of your home, too. When they are not there, your home does not seem the same. Dogs bring life, love and energy to a home.

5) We’ve made new friends because of our dogs. Whether it’s people we’ve met at the Homeward Animal Shelter, or those we’ve met walking the dogs at the park every weekend morning, or those who ask about Rudy and Jewels because they hear about them on the radio, we’ve met people who share our common interest in dogs. They are good people who care about their pets, and other peoples’ pets. They get it.

(Mike McFeely is a talk-show host on 790 KFGO in Fargo-Moorhead. He can be heard 2-5 p.m. weekdays. Follow him on Twitter @MikeMcFeelyKFGO.)