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Originally Posted by alaskayorkie  Good for you! I love sad stories with happy endings!
It takes a special person to love and accept an animal that they might not have chosen for themselves, but isn't that what everyone wants in life? A special person to share life with?
My now wife came into my life when I had a 13-year-old Lab who was declining rapidly. He panted all the time. His shedding was terrible. Gas.
From her perspective, he was not a nice presence in the house, and I could understand that. She didn't have the history with that dog that I did. I got him from a shelter when he was 8 weeks old, and we grew up together. We hiked, we swam, we traveled, we moved from town to town and city to city. He was my best friend, and I looked at the challenges of his senior years as a small way I could pay him back for the 13 years of unconditional love he gave me.
My wife became my wife when she accepted that and treated him with the love and respect he deserved. If she hadn't, she wouldn't be my wife of 14 years.  |
That is a great story too! I can't believe I almost settled for someone who didn't love Layla. Knowing what it's like now, my life has completely changed for the better
I am glad your wife accepted him too. I think the best qualities in people can be seen in their care of animals. A person who loves and respects animals, even in their worst days and in the end of their lives, is a person who will always love and respect friends and family.
In my case, when a grown man sees nothing wrong with slapping an innocent little dog, it will never end up well. If we ended up together I have no doubt in my mind that he eventually he would have hit me, or any children we might have had together. I didn't see it then, but I do now!
Layla never really loved anyone I brought around before. Scott expresses her twice a day (letting me only do it once!), he fixes her hair when it's in her eyes, he runs with her when we go for walks, he sticks up for her when people put her down for being handicapped. Last week, he left one evening to go play ball, and Layla refused to eat, and she laid at the back door on his shoes for hours until he came home! All of a sudden, I'm not the cool parent anymore
But it warms my heart!