Most people who post stories here are about rescued pets. This one is about a rescued owner.

My little guy Kirby – an energetic spunky Shih Tzu – was given to me by my parents when I got out of college.

I was in my twenties, and enjoying life like all twentysomethings do — however, after several brushes of not doing the right thing, not only with myself, but Kirby, one day I just woke up and stop.

Kirby was born in 1993 — and it would be 2002 before I totally calmed down.

I could say Kirby waited nine long years to have his owner be there, but it was like discovering this little jewel all over again since that day.

By 2007, Kirby was starting to go blind and develop arthritis. He even lived through the dog food poison scare that he almost became victim to.

This little guy was resiliant to the end. Three weeks ago he developed glaucoma — and badly. We put him on medication, and i was putting drops in his eye seven times a day.

Last Monday, I took him into the vet after he stopped eating, and we discovered the swelling in his went down, which was great news, but because the glaucoma stretched out the membrane, his eye was basically split into two (basically it herniated). That happened during the day while i was at work.

The doctor told me to either remove his eye, or put him to sleep. I didn’t want my little guy to go through removing a body part every time something failed – so we did it right then.

Kirby was 17.5 years old – I miss him so deeply. He was more than my pet – he saved me in more ways than I can count.

— Eric from Pflugerville, TX

I want to tell my story about, truly Mans BEST friend. Barron was a 10-year old, one of a kind, German Shepperd Dog that I have ever had the pleasure to call a great friend. It was about 9-1/2 years ago that he was an unexpected gift from a rescue. We had to rescue him from a relative who fell on hard times and could not give him the proper love, home and training that he desperately needed and deserved. Full of intense energy, which German Shepeards are known for, I had to occupy this dog’s time with a lot of training and playful activity. One of those was catching a frisbee, and he loved it, and actually returned it to me. This was the start of a Man-Dog bond that was stronger then any glue. (I think my wife was a little jealous at times, :) We would go on endless walks through the park in our neighborhood and he would love to chase the squirrels in our backyard. He was the epitome of unconditional love and companionship that one would anyone hope for in a dog. We were truly blessed. I am saddened to say, this past Saturday (5-7-2011) we went on our last walk together. Has we returned inside the home, he collapsed, and had a seizures and/or a heart attack that caused him to die in my arms. Needless to say, this weekend has been filled with EXTREME grief for the whole family( with lots of tears shed, as a beloved pet has pasted to dog heaven.

I’ sharing my story of my friend you all of you, to help with the overwhelming grief and the healing process that comes with losing a beloved pet…

I love you Barron and I hope you have good days and restful nights in dog heaven…I hope to see you one day so we can continue our long walks together.

Rest in Peace my friend and my “Big Boy B”

— Matt from Lake Worth, FL

We adopted Xochi (Sojee) from a local greyhound rescue when she was four. How blessed we were to have her with us for seven years. She was the sweetest, silliest, and most loving, loyal hound ever! My friend through thick and thin.

I still see you leaping from the bedroom doorway to land, skidding on all four feet, in the middle of my bed–taking the sheets and comforter with you! I visited you today at your beautiful place on the mesa, buried by a standing stone. I thought of holding you yesterday as we said goodbye–my loving girl–trusting me ’til the end…

— Lisa from Albuquerque, NM

This is our newest rescue dog Sammy.  We got him from Florida Little Dog Rescue.  He was saved off of death row and was near death when they got him, his brother and mom.  He needed a blood transfusion because of flea induced anemia.  Our other dog Louis is a rescue from Golden Retriever Rescue.  Sammy received the blood transfusion from a golden retriever.  Kinda cool we think.  Dogs saving dogs, people saving dogs and dogs saving people.  They sure complete our lives!  Thanks for listening to our story.  :-)

— Cheryl from St. Petersburg, FL

I have the best dog. I inherited Lily from my daughter who felt an english bulldog puppy and a new premie son would be more than she could handle. So I thought bulldog = chunky lap dog, right? She loves to play and run and take care of me. She slowed down enough to nurse me through a very ugly ankle surgery in January.

Lily Monster, you are the BEST!!!

— Debbie from Lonejack, MO

On January 31, 2009, I met my second foster, Princess Lea, an adorable 7 year old female black and white parti-cocker who was rescued from a rural shelter in Berkeley County, West Virginia.
To my disbelief Princess Lea was filled with a lot of energy when I picked her up from an adoption show. Princess had very interesting features. Her head and her ears were black with one black spot located on her butt. The one thing that stuck out about her was that she still had a tail, unlike most cocker spaniels that have their tail docked.
At shows everyone thought she was cute, but didn’t seem very interested in her. At times Princess Lea would get a little snippy, which we worked on. At one show in Annapolis she tried so hard to get people to like her. You could tell she was a little depressed lying down on the floor with that sad look on her cute little face.
In May the rescue group was invited to an event in Bethesda, Maryland called “Strutt your Mutt” where Princess Lea got to participate in the kissing booth. Everyone who came by the rescue booth saw Princess Lea and thought she was pretty, taking pictures of her. She was a really big hit and brought in a lot of money.
In early August a family from West Virginia came to an adoption show in Columbia, Maryland to see a dog named Patches. However, Patches was too much for the kids to handle. Then the mother saw Princess Lea. I told her Princess Lea was allergic to wheat and was eating special food along with taking allergy medication.
The family had a long family discussion and decided to adopt her; however it was not meant to be because she ended up coming back to me that very same day. The family didn’t give Princess Lea time to adjust to her new home in Hedgesville, West Virginia. When the family got home the kids were excited about finally getting their dog that they wanted to play with Princess Lea. However she was tired from the drive and growled at the kids. That’s when the family made the decision to return her to the rescue.
Once Princess Lea came back to me her attitude changed especially towards children other dogs. At shows I would have to keep my distance from the other dogs. I would distract her with treats when whenever other dogs came in her vicinity. Sometimes I would keep Princess Lea in my lap; this seemed to keep her calm.
Then at the end of April of 2010 into May Princess Lea’s life began to slip away from me. She started coughing. I took to the vets and after giving her a thorough check up, the vets determined that she might have a mild case of kennel cough and put her on medication and sent her home.
Over that weekend she wasn’t getting any better so I took her back to the vets where they vet took x-rays and found that she had pneumonia. They quickly put her on fluids and medication. The vets told me that they would be forwarding her x-rays to a radiologist to get a better understanding about what was going on with Princess Lea.
Later that night the vets called to tell me that Princess Lea had mycotic pneumonia and they changed her medication. Sometime during the late hours of Monday, May 3rd Princess Lea died in her sleep. The very next morning around 8:30 am I got the painful news from the vets telling me that Princess Lea didn’t make it. This was very painful for me to hear, I loved Lea so much.
When I got to the vets to say goodbye to Princess Lea I was taken into a room where Princess Lea was laying lifeless on a towel on an examining table. As I approached her tears of my pain started to flow as I told Princess Lea how much I loved her and that I would forever miss her. I had Princess Lea cremated. Before I left that day I cut some of Princess Lea’s hair so that I could put into a baggie and attach to her favorite stuffed animal.
A week after Princess Lea passed away, her ashes were to have come but mysteriously her ashes were returned to me on my 45th birthday; I think this was God’s plan. Princess Lea’s ashes were placed in a dark brown wooden box in the shape small casket. Even know Princess Lea was never my dog. I’m happy she was a part of my life.

— Harriett from Germantown,  MD