My husband and I have chosen not to have children, so my dogs are my babies. When my mother-in-law lost my Schnauzer Maggie while my husband and I were on vacation I was devastated. We were unable to get an early flight back to our home state, so I cried the entire rest of the trip. Needless to say the vacation was ruined. When we got home we could tell our other dog, Scout, was distraught as well. Scout and Maggie had been best buddies and loved each other more than anything. We looked for weeks and weeks, driving the 2.5 hours one-way to the city she was lost in every time we got a ‘credible’ clue. Sadly we never found Maggie again. For me it was truly soul crushing.
Many months later, once the sharp edges of pain and loss had ebbed a bit, I was ready to adopt a new dog. My husband insisted I get a puppy, knowing that it would help to ease the loss by having something so tiny to care for. After looking for a time we found Otto! His doggy momma, a schnauzer, had been surrendered to the shelter because she had ‘accidentally’ gotten pregnant. She had a beautiful litter of puppies that were mixed colors and shapes, all just bundles of cute. When they finally became available for viewing we were the second people in line. Otto was perfect in every way – cute, playful, cuddly and a total goof ball. We had to wait several weeks until he was ready to go home, but we visited him regularly to play and have him get to know us. While Scout wasn’t sure about him and his puppy teeth at first, it didn’t take her long to fall totally in love with her baby brother, just like we did.
While the loss of Maggie still hurts (and I still look for her) four years later I no longer feel the crushing weight of her loss and it’s all thanks to the love and companionship of my Otto and his sister Scout!
Rosholt, WI