I had the honor of being Bree’s mom for the last three years of her life. I met her when I volunteered at Second Chance, and it broke my heart when no one showed interest in adopting this gentle giant. I would tell my husband about the older, sweet baby who’d been at the shelter longer than any of the other residents, and we eventually decided it was time to expand our pack.

Strangers would occassonally steer clear of Bree due to her breed, but that girl didn’t have a mean or aggressive bone in her body. Bree was all sunshine and rainbows. She gave great kisses and she never met a creature she didn’t love. Our other dog (Millie) is people-shy and when kids approached and asked to pet our dogs, we’d tell them the black one would love to be their friend. We’d joke that Bree was Millie’s ‘stunt dog’ and it worked well for everyone. Bree loved the attention.

As for other creatures, Bree loved them all.  She made friends with a bunny and an armadillo (?!), and she literally couldn’t comprehend that not all dogs wanted to be friends.  When we saw other dogs on her daily walk, she’d desperately try to greet them even if the dog signaled ‘not a friend’.  We’d joke that we could almost hear the conversation:

Bree: hi friend!  I’m Bree, what’s your name?
Other dog: I’m gonna rip you apart
Bree:  weird name, but that’s cool…we’re gonna be besties forever!

Bree literally couldn’t comprehend that someone or something didn’t want to be friends because she only felt love.

We don’t believe Bree had the opportunity to be an ‘indoor dog’ before living with us, but she took to the indoor life quickly.  She had a favorite recliner in front of the TV, and it still feels wrong to sit in ‘Brees chair’ many months after she’s gone.  Bree was far from perfect- she could be lazy and stubborn- but she was always a ray of sunshine in our day.

Our decision to welcome Bree into our home was a great decision we never regretted.  She had the fabulous ‘retirement ‘ she deserved, and our house got an injection of love.  Because of her age and health issues when we adopted her, we thought we might only get a year or so of ‘Bree love’, but it turned into 3 great years.  We wouldn’t trade those years for anything.