My first rescue dog, Kaiyu, came with the first house I bought. It was her home, and the prior owner could not keep her as she was going to a climate not suitable for a husky mix. In fact, the reason she selected us to buy her house, over the numerous others that wanted it at a higher price than we could pay, was that we were the only ones willing to take care of her beloved dog. We thought it was a good idea, we had a young dog that really needed a playmate to burn off some energy.

In time, Kaiyu accepted us into her home, and stopped looking for her prior owner. At the time we moved in Kaiyu was eight years old, so we did not expect she would be with us for more than 3 to 5 years. Well almost eight years later, Kaiyu showed the first signs of getting old. She became deaf. Not really a problem, as long as she knew you were around. If you surprised her, she could be dangerous, a first for a dog that was nothing but loving. We figured it was due to her loss of hearing, and fear had now entered into her life because she did not understand what had happened to her.

We adjusted to making sure that she knew we were near before we touched her, even our other dog adapted to the new situation. Well, in time old age caused her health to start to fail. But we loved her too much to let a few pet stains and vet bills take her away from us.

Than one day, we came home and found that Kaiyu had had a stroke. Now she was blind as well and deaf, and had become a danger to herself. We took her to the vet, and as we expected it was time to put her down.

We could not stay in the room while it happened, nor could we compose ourselves to drive home for more than an hour. We still miss her even now, almost ten years later.

Since her death, and the natural death of my younger dog. We have obtained two more rescue dogs. One is a perfect angel and very protective of my wife. The other is a clown, and not always as good as you would like, but we love them both very much. Best of all, they are both extremely tolerant of our 7 month old son, and put up with all kinds of antics from our son.

I expect our son to grow up always knowing the love of a dog, as dogs will always be a part of my life

David from Alaska