When Ryan and I were first married, we adopted a 9 month old Lab-Chow mix and named her Maggie. Maggie was our baby for 9 years, until we welcomed our first human child into the world, Kai. As many people know, Kai was very sick. She received a life-saving liver transplant at 4 months old, donated to her by her father. We spent more than a year constantly in and out of the hospital, which was 2 hours away from where we lived.
Poor Maggie, who had severe separation anxiety, was sent to live with family in Ohio until the ordeal was over. When she came back, our sweet, gentle and loving 60lb lap dog was severely depressed and aggressive toward our young daughter. We were forced to gate her off in a different section of our home to keep both dog and baby safe. Additionally, Maggie had developed some health issues of her own.
Time went by and, with the addition of our 2nd human child, Reef, Maggie was less aggressive but, still withdrawn and her health issues were increasingly worse. Now 12 years old, she seemed so old and slept most of the time. She growled every time one of the kids came near her. We decided that adopting another dog might help ease the pain of what we saw as her inevitable passing and, we hoped, give her a companion… even though she had not often been fond of other dogs in the past.
We adopted Breezy, a 1 and a half year old pure bred German Shepherd, from the Mid-Atlantic German Shepherd Rescue. She was found laying in the highway in Pennsylvania by a family who pulled over their car (an 18 wheeler pulled his trailer across the road to block traffic and helped them) and took her to their home, where they nursed her back to health. She rode all the way to meet the representative from MAGSR (Mid-Atlantic German Shepherd Rescue) with her head on their 6 year old son's lap.
Thinking the next few months would be a rough ride full of adjustments, we braced ourselves with patience and hoped for the best. To our surprise, it was like she had always been there! Even more shocking, Maggie miraculously came out of her shell and began socializing with the family and seeking attention… even snuggling with our children and playing with Breezy!
Breezy has also become a close companion to our daughter, patiently wearing tiaras and suffering through "labs" when Kai acts out her experience with routine medical testing; offering a giant paw to be poked and prodded without complaint. If she is not by my side, she can often be found under blanket forts snuggled up with the kids.
I post this, not only to brag about my beautiful 80lb lap dog, but to draw attention to the benefits of adopting an pet. The process to adopt Breezy was a long and involved one: we filled out an application, references were called, we had an interview in our home and a home inspection with a representative from the rescue and then we met, as a family (Maggie included) with several dogs from MAGSR. All of this ensured that we are not only qualified to own a dog, but that we received the best match for our family possible. The outcome? Breezy is the missing link we didn't know was missing. Some might say Breezy was lucky to be rescued but, we feel like the lucky ones to have her!
If you are considering adding a furry family member to your home, consider adoption!
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