I want to tell you of how a little lost dog saved my family from a grief worse than we have ever experienced. She is a little terrier mix that found her way to my Mother’s front porch. She was there, sleeping in the fern border frightened and so scared it took 3 days of coaxing for her to take the leftover Christmas turkey we had offered her. She was our diversion from the family heartbreak we were experiencing. My sister, Peggy was at home rapidly losing her battle with liver cancer.  My Mother was inconsolable, as was I. To make matters worse, Lucy my Mother’s Yorkie, and companion of 14 years, had to be put down just 1 week earlier. Then my Mother had to endure the suffering and loss of her youngest child. From above, a little miracle was dropped into her ferns. I can’t explain it any other way. This sweet young dog came from nowhere to help with mending our hearts. We had lost Lucy, and we were going to lose my sister. After 3 days, we were able to earn this little dog’s trust. It was not easy; she was very scared and would hide when we came near. We brought her water, we tried dog treats, and we put a plush beach towel for her to sleep on. She still was very leary. Finally the leftover Christmas turkey did the trick. She let us pick her up. She melted in our arms.  We brought her to the bedside of my sister. Peggy had been in-and-out of consciousness but looked at her and said “let’s call her Susie”. Peggy died a month later, Feb 1 2012. My family has been rocked with sadness ever since. The bright spot of comfort has been a small Heaven- sent dog named “Susie”, that is always ready to play, always ready to give back the love we lost. We call her “rocket dog” because when she gets excited she zooms around the house or yard from sheer joy to be with us. It warms my heart to see a smile come over my Mom’s face at her antics, and to see her get dog kisses from her Susie. She is now my Mother’s companion, her day to day partner and her comfort in the lonely times. Even though Susie came to us as a terrified waif, she without condition adopted us and gave us her trust and confidence. I think they’ve got it wrong. We don’t adopt pets; they unconditionally adopt us eager to give us comfort through all our weakest moments in life.

— Lindsey from Riverside, CA

About 2 ½ years ago, pitch black outside, our doorbell rang.  A woman was standing on our front porch, holding a pathetic-looking little Boston Terrier.  She said, “Is this your dog?  I found it wandering down the middle of the street.”  We told her it was not, and we did not recognize it as any of the dogs that lived in the neighborhood, but we would take it inside and look after it and see if we could find out who it belonged to.  We took it inside – she was a little female – we had no idea how old she was, where she came from, or whether she was hungry or thirsty.  We have another dog, a Border Terrier named Ringo, so we had some dog food.  We put her in the kitchen & gave her a bowl of dog food and a bowl of water.  She ate a little food, drank a little water but basically just sat there with a quizzical expression on her face, making odd noises.
We found out she belonged to a friend of our next door neighbor’s mother.  Our neighbor’s mother lived about a ½ mile down the street from us, on the opposite side from our next door neighbor’s house, and this friend, and her dog, were staying with her.  Where we live is pretty rural, and our street is narrow, winds around a lot and is very dark, as there are no streetlights and the houses are far apart.  It was a miracle this little dog made it all the way from our neighbor’s mother’s house to outside our front door without getting run over, and a miracle that the woman who rang our doorbell saw her and stopped to pick her up.  Her name was “Annie,” and she was deaf.  We figured she was safe back home with our neighbor’s mother’s friend.
Late last March, my wife got an e-mail from our next door neighbor, asking if we knew anyone who wanted to adopt a deaf dog.  It seems her mother’s friend had abandoned Annie at our neighbor’s mother’s house.  Our neighbor’s mother was ill and could not look after the dog, and the friend would not, for reasons unknown, take back the dog.  Annie had made a good impression on us the time she had spent in our kitchen, so we told our neighbor we would adopt her.  We think she was about 8 years old at the time.
Our neighbor brought Annie to our house early last April.  We took her to our vet to get her updated on her shots, checked for heartworm, have her rather bad teeth seen to and otherwise take care of her health needs.  She really loved it here – she played with her toys, ran around the house and pretty much made herself at home.  Although she was a little thing, she was tough, and pushed our poor other dog around on occasion (but not too much).  Ringo was a good sport about it (& a good thing, too, as he easily could’ve killed Annie if he tried).  She also got along well with our Maine Coon Cat, Gordo.  Annie especially loved my wife, Allison, and followed her around like a little shadow.
This morning, she went to the vet to have some nasty looking tumors removed from her skin.  The vet did a needle biopsy of one last week – he did not think they were malignant but said they may have been, and were certainly pre-cancerous and should come off.  Annie went into cardiac arrest and died on the operating table.
I know lots of bad things happen in the world every day, and lots of innocent people die, and Annie was just a little dog, but Allison and I are very sad today.  Allison said Annie needed someone and found us – all I know is she had a very good home for the last 16 months of her life – we only wish she could’ve spent more time with us.  She was a good little dog and will be missed.

— Bruce from Long Valley, NJ

Our beloved cat, Maometto passed away at the ripe old age of 19.  We loved him dearly.  He was a stray, took him in at about 18 months.  After Maometto passed, we went to the local shelter about a month later and adopted Edward.  He was a stray  around 18 months.   Had been at the shelter recuperaing for a month.  When he was picked up, he had fleas, an abscess on his right thigh and had not been neutered.  I brought him home and let him out of his carry carton.  He walked up the hall a few feet and then returned and rolled on his back.  I am sure he was saying, “nice digs, I think I hit the jackpot:.  I was born with a defective aorta valve.  About two years after we adopted Edward, I knew from the tests my time was coming to have it replaced.  In May of 2008, I came home from working 12 hours and went to bed.  Edward came to the bed, crawled down the bedspread and came up on my left side,  placed his head on my left side and extended his paw over my heart.  He knew something was wrong withe my heart.  A few weeks later my doctor told me it was time for my valve to be replaced.  I told Edward when I went to the hospital that it would be his job to take care of me during the day when I got home and Joe would take care of me at night.  The day I came home, Edward jumped on my lap, sniffed my chest and settled on my lap.  He is my angel.  Spends so much time with me.  When I pick him up, he wraps his arms around my neck and does not want to let go of me.  We love him so much.  Animals are truly miraculous.

— Sharron from Hillsborough, CA

Well, both of my dogs are rescue dogs, but in particular my story is regarding Charlie. He is a Malinois hound mix and was nine months old when I rescued him in Indiana. However, through some really tough times,he was the one that really rescued me. Recently, he has been diagnosed with cancer and I am devastated. I do not have the money to treat him extensively (especially on teacher pay), but for now the visual portion of the tumor has been removed and he is on meds. I love him so much…he is my boy. Thank you for allowing me to share Charlie with you…

— Kim from Tampa, FL

A Very Sad Day.
We had to say good-bye to our old friend Tok (pronounced Toke) this morning. He had cancer and had reached a point where he was noticeably suffering. He went peacefully and was well loved by all.
I’d like to think he’s chasing squirrels in the great beyond right now; tail waggin’ all the way!

R.I.P Tok (Pronounced Toke)

Born in Anchorage Alaska, around 2003 . A Capricorn. Named after a small town up there.
He had a nice family. They were in the service and being deployed to Iraq and thus couldn’t keep him.
He needed a home. He got one with us.
Very well behaved and overtly friendly. Trusted with children was he. In fact he was trained by a professional hired by his first family to protect an autistic child that was prone to wander off. He would block the child (gently) from going out the front door by simply making sure he was between the child and the door. He weighed 110 lbs.!
Turn Ons: Quit evenings with a fresh bone, bringing things back, reminding members of the bird family he was their superior, swimming in ice water, going clamming with George, long walks on the beach and pooping.
Turn Offs: Mailmen, audacious squirrels and rolled up newspapers.
He loved Patsy Cline’s Greatest Hits
He was a gentle giant and we will miss him very, very much.
I plan on burying him in the back yard and creating a nice flower bed in his memory.

— George from Kingston, NY

It took about 18 months to get over the passing of Chloe and June, sister terriers who passed away within a year of each other (ages 14 and 15). We’d adopted them from the shelter in Charlottesville, VA when they were puppies and they were our family’s constant joy. A few months ago we adopted a three-year-old stray terrier mix from the Champaign (IL) shelter, a feisty, free-spirited male the shelter workers had named Captain because he thought he owned the place. There is nothing in the world better than a shelter pet. They are entirely devoted, eager to please, ready to fit in and be a part of the family. I’ve loved about 14 family dogs in my 50 years, and each one is “the best.” They are all such a blessing. God surely made dogs to be our singular companions.

— Julie from Philo, IL