Max and Drummer were both ‘rescued dogs’. Max had been confined to a life of abuse and torment, and until he came to live with us, had spent a majority of his first three years around little kids that kicked and hit on him. The owner openly admitted that Max had been locked in a ‘shoe box’ sized caged much of his 1st three years of life. As wild and tormented as that precise Yorkie was, I knew that in the loving care of a good mommy and daddy, he would come to know love and joy in our home. Shortly after we got Max, we decided to get him a brother. It took three years of prayer to find my wife’s little ‘Drummer Boy’. It was Christmas of ’06, and a friend called to tell us about a gal who raised Dachshunds but had rescued a Yorkie she just couldn’t keep under control (what it is with some people?). We called her to explain that we were Yorkie parents of the highest grade, and would she like to be freed of her burden…Drummer came to live with us the week before Christmas…and what is so unbelievable and remarkable, both Max and Drummer took to each other like long lost brothers. As the attached picture shows, both boys are always neatly groomed, and close together. we have a nice sized back yard for them to run in (a literal forest of scrubs to search, sniff and run among. But their biggest joy, as is ours, is at night when they cuddle up next to mommy and me, to sleep in the security of their loving parents.

— Jack from Buda, TX

Back in 2000, we drove an hour out of town to look at what was left of a liter of Golden Retriever puppies. The mother’s name was Sweetie.  When we arrived, all four of the puppies ran to us but only one remained focused on us for the duration of our stay.  I told the family that we should come back the next day to observe the puppies again.  The next day when we came back, again the same puppy was the only one to stay focused on and plays with us.  For smell association,  the owners cut a piece of cloth cut off of the larger cloth from where the mother always would lay with the puppies and sent it with Andy for the trip home with us.
Andy, now 12 year old was put to sleep yesterday afternoon (8/10/2012) at around 5:00 – 5:10pm  as my wife, youngest son and myself stood around him looking into his eyes and petting him. I know that my oldest son who was away at college wanted to be there too.
This has been one of the hardest things to go through.  No words really describe watching my wife Pam and my youngest son Evan cry at Andy’s side after the decision was made to put him to sleep. Pam once said that it would just kill her if anything happened to Andy.  Andy was always her safe place when the world seemed to not like her.  I find myself constantly looking over my shoulder to see if Andy is looking at me as he always was, only to see an empty place.  When we all had come back from the Avalon Animal Clinic where Andy was put to sleep, I immediately cleaned up and packed away Andy’s dog dishes, leftover food and toys because it was too painful to see them. Through the night I would keep opening my eyes and roll over to look at and sometimes pet Andy.  Again, he is not there anymore.  Looking at this and the empty corner where all of Andy’s stuff would sit makes me tear up.  Andy was a very interactive dog that had a real personality.  I love dogs but Andy was really one in a million.  He seemed very different than any dog that I have ever known.
My wife could let out the slightest cry (not even audible from the next room) and Andy would leap off of a bed occupied by noisy teenagers from the other side of a second story house, run downstairs, up to my Wife’s lap and anxiously try to comfort her.
My wife and I would take Andy to the park where sometimes we walked with him. Andy would get distracted with something on the ground and just to see Andy’s reaction; we would hide around the back side of a big tree and watch to see what he would do when he looked up.  When Andy looked up, he would franticly start looking around for us and we would step out with our arms open and he would come running wagging his tail and bury his head into us. This park was our favorite place to go because of Andy.  We
Andy had a few toys that would usually lie around the house untouched for very long periods of time.  When someone would come by for a visit, he would look around and quickly locate the toy so that he could run up to the visitor and show them the toy.
Andy would play Hide and Seek and he always got excited when he would find the person who was doing the hiding.
Andy displayed many amazing things that I never knew a dog was capable of.  I could never mention them all.
I looked forward to coming home every night because Andy would always be right there wagging his tail in anticipation.  I would drop to one knee and Andy would bury his head in between my shoulder and cheek. I would rub him and his tail would never stop wagging. He would stay until I would stand back up.
We never thought this day would come.  We all love and miss Andy so much.  Things will never be the same without Andy at our sides.
This last part is being added very unexpectedly.  My wife read what I had written so far and reminded me of how she had asked me to carefully seal up the blanket in which Andy had been laying on for the last few weeks of his life because we could still smell Andy on the blanket. This is an ironic twist because much like the beginning of Andy’s journey with us; his owners gave him a piece of the blanket that his mother and siblings had laid on for the same comforting reason!

— Jeff from Indianapolis, IN

Last June, as payment of the ultimate price that we all must pay for love, we said good-bye to our beloved Yorkshire Terrier, Psycho (after the movie).  Not sure about what to do with the love that was bouncing around our house with no object, we decided to get a rescue dog and picked out a beautiful Shih-Tzu/Pomeranian named Edison (pictured here), age 2.

The family that originally owned him surrendered him because they did not like the way he interacted with their children.  This  surprised us because a more friendly, polite and well behaved dog would be hard to imagine.  He came to us fully house trained, with basic behavioral cues and a sunny nature that apparently does not permit him to bark except in the most serious of circumstances which turns out to be only when he sees a dog he wants to play with.

We are so fortunate to have him in our lives.  He gives purpose to our love and in a strange sense honors the memory of the dog we just lost.

— Debra from Naples, FL

Lucy left us today after eight years of being a great family pet.

Lucy had a great disposition and would always want to go with me…to the park..to the store..for a long walk.

We will miss you Lucy…..my best friend !

— Steve from Santa Clarita, CA

Meet Odin and Chloe My Yellow labs. I received Odin as a Pup just before my surgery for cancer in Dec 2009. He was supposed to be my wife’s dog for protection while I deploy (I am in U.S. Navy). However, due to me being on limited duty after the surgery me and Odin formed a very close bond this dog seems to know what I’m thinking. Chloe on the other had I adopted from another Navy family who was moving to Guam (you know the Island that will tip over because of too many troops LOL). They did not want Her to go through 6 months of quarantine.  To introduce her into Family I used to take them both to Fiesta Island Dog park here In San Diego.   The park is a wonderful resource that under threat of people that want to develop it. Odin and Chloe over the six months time I took taking them to Park every weekend became very close. In fact you could say they became boyfriend and girlfriend. You would no recognize them as a married couple that truly loves each other.

— Michael from San Diego, CA

In 2002 my father died, and I took mom into my home to provide care for her as she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s two years earlier. In 2006, it became necessary to provide a more secure environment so mom would not wander off and get lost so I purchased a house and soon after a dog to keep mom company. Cherish is a pound dog and fell immediately in love with mom. They were devoted to each other, and I think Cherish helped to keep her centered on life. When mom had come down to the end of her life, something the caregiver called the transition mom was on a hospital bed provided by the local hospice and she, and Cherish could not be together. Mom had an unusually long transition, 22 days. The caregiver said that in her experience, people hung on until their loved ones come to say their final good-byes. Each member of my family dutifully came by to say good-bye to mom and a few days later she was still going strong. On what turned out to be the final day of my mother’s life the caregiver, and I were going through the morning routine of cleaning her up to get her ready to face another day. Cherish is a small dog only 15 pounds and on this day, she was not to be denied the chance to be with mom. Cherish leapt with everything she had and managed to get her front paws onto the bed then she pulled herself onto the bed. I immediately went over to where Cherish was on the bed and was getting ready to put her back on the floor, but the caregiver said it was alright because she was done, so I let Cherish be. Cherish walked up to mom\’s face and gave her one lick on the face then settled down next to mom where she stayed until mom died two hours later. I now know it was her constant companion who gave her unqualified love during the most difficult times of her life that mom was waiting to say good-bye to.

— Dick from Gervais, OR