Two years ago, right after Christmas, we lost our family dog, Cole. He had been with us from the time he was a few months old until he died after twelve and a half years of being a loyal and true friend. Even after so much time had passed, when i came home from work, I expected to be greeted by him at the door. My daughters have been after me to get another dog but I didn’t feel we would be able to take care of a dog with our hectic schedules. This summer we began talking about it again and I finally agreed we could get another dog as long as everyone committed to taking good care of it. We decided to get another puppy and went online to find a dog in need of adoption. We found a shepherd-chou pup that had been rescued in Kentucky. Lucy joined our family a week and a half ago and has made herself at home. As I watched her running in the snow today, it reminded me of Cole and how he loved to run and play.

— Xavier from Gaithersburg, MD