Million Dollar Listing star Josh Altman never really thought about becoming a dog owner. The young realtor would stop at roadside adoption drives in Los Angeles after "seeing the cute dogs and petting them," but didn't have the urge to adopt. Then, five years ago, he met Diego.
"When I saw his face, I just couldn't leave him," Altman tells PEOPLEPets.com. Though he didn't grow up with pets – his parents feigned allergies to quash his pleas for a cat or dog – he and his older brother Matt decided to rescue Diego together. The mixed-breed pup was suffering from mange, and was particularly timid due to past abuse, so the brothers nursed him back to health in their then-shared home.
A year later, they decided they were ready for a second rescue. And en route to IKEA, their wish came true: a stray pup dashed out in front of their car on the highway. "We skidded out of the way, then grabbed him," Altman recalls. "And because of that, we named him Lucky." Just like Diego, Lucky had some health issues, including nails so long they curled over themselves, but after a trip to the vet, he was good as new.
Now, the misfit mutts are "just like brothers," Altman says. "They hang out, they love each other." But since rescuing them, the (human) brothers have moved apart, with Josh in his own house and Matt living with his fiancé three blocks away.
"It is like a mini-vacation when I don't have them, but I miss them, too," Altman admits. "Sometimes I go over to Matt's house, steal the dogs and take them for a hike, then bring them back to his place without telling him."
Since adopting his dogs, Altman says his life has changed for the better. "The experience brings a whole new dimension to your life," he says. And, in fact, Diego and Lucky have become celebrities in their own right. "I get more emails and Tweets about them than anything else," he says, laughing.
So what's Altman's next step for rescue pets? In a perfect world, "I'd love if ever mansion I sold came with an adopted dog," he says. "Every mansion needs a dog!"
Meet more celebrity pups on PEOPLEPets.com:
True Blood's Sam Trammell Has a Cat-like Dog
Glee's Harry Shum Jr. Has an 'Almost' Dancing Dog
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