My two dogs, Punk’n and Enzo, are my heroes because they are a reflection and a constant reminder of who I am and who I strive to be. In so many ways, Punk’n is me in dog form—willful, outspoken, and sometimes even stubborn. She reacts to many things the same way I do and helps me see myself and my actions in her short, furry reflection. I know myself better because of her.
Multiple Sclerosis is my demon. Annie, my 18 month friend is my motivation to stay strong so that I can walk her, train her, play with her. She rests her head in my hands when they are hurting so bad I can’t move them.
Allie Baba did not have much of an early family life. She joined our family when she was a over a year old, and this exceptionally shy Afghan Hound bonded and depended on Buddy, our resident Afghan. Buddy moved with us to California the year before from Nashville.
We were about to go home after a long morning of volunteering at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles when a nurse came running up to us.
My husband and I adopted Bishop just shortly after my father was diagnosed with cancer. My dad has always been a “dog person” and was very excited to find out we adopted a puppy of our own. From the moment we brought Bishop over to meet his “grandpa” I could see that the energy and love from this little puppy was a great healing power to my dad as he went through cancer treatment.
For 9 years, Jake, a rambunctious tri-color sheltie was a faithful Saturday morning visitor to the Comminty Hospital’s house (hospice).
Medea was born at a puppy mill and kept as a breeding bitch, along with 63 other American Eskimo Dogs, aka Eskies. Their health, teeth and parasites were ignored and they were regularly kicked and beaten.
Last year my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. This was especially troubling because I had lost my father to this vicious disease just two years earlier. My mother was extremely difficult to deal with. I was depressed and stressed beyond belief.
We had just brought our son home from the hospital, as new parents, we were incredibly cautious in regards to EVERYTHING! We were pretty sure that taking a walk around the neighborhood with our dog, Mate, would be a safe thing to do.
All summer, I tried to get Mazi into the lake and she resisted as she doesn’t care for water much. One day she climbed down the ladder, jumped in and swam in circles and climbed back up the ladder all by herself. She is not a water dog.
I know that people love their dogs, but imagine how much more you would love your dog if you could be with them 24/7! Ava is like an extension of me. She is a diabetic service dog and can smell when my blood sugar is going low or high.
She squiggled and snuggled her way into my husband’s heart. He had never had pets at all growing up (a fish in college was the only pet-owning experience he’d ever had!) so my husband has no interest in getting a dog.
Valencia is a lovely and caring Standard Poodle, but to me she’s so much more! As a certified diabetic alert service dog, Valencia has been trained to detect (through my breath, hands, and feet) dangerous blood glucose levels. Being a diabetic, having a dog that can spontaneously alert detection of high or low blood glucose, as well as diabetic coma or seizure is truly a life saver.
Roxy is a hero dog in many ways. He brought much joy to my mother in the last two years of her life. Always happy and always there when she needed a hug. Three years ago Roxy came to live with my family of two kids, two cats, one parrot and two dogs, not to mention a slew of foster dogs. It is with the foster dogs that Roxy is the hero.
Her name was Fluffy and she had been at the animal shelter for one month, that’s 30 days, with a broken leg. The shelter was trying to raise money for the surgery necessary to repair the broken leg. I couldn’t imagine the pain she endured for so long, in a strange place without any care towards a broken leg.
