Barry & Roxy

Barry & Roxy

Human: Barry
Canine: Roxy
Location: Eagle River, WI
Together since: 2007
Type: Chow mix
Favorite dog group: Hope Animal Shelter

Last March, we had dinner with friends who were very excited about the new dog they had found online and just adopted.

The next day we left for Durango, Colorado, to visit our grandson. After we checked into the hotel, my wife Jody got onto the laptop and, strictly out of curiosity, found several shelters within 100 miles of our small community. So we started looking at available pets.

When she got to the Hope Animal Shelter in Ironwood, Michigan, she found Roxy, a 65-pound Chow mix. Hope is a no-kill shelter and Roxy had been there for 11 months. She had been abandoned in a state park not far from Lake Superior and was about four years old. She also had a tendency to growl at strangers. Not an appealing trait for families.

We had discussed the idea of having a pet in the house, in general terms, for a while but neither of us were really serious. We hadn't had a dog in 25 years. We talked it over as we traveled the next day and somehow found ourselves going back online and filling out the adoption papers the next evening.

We returned home the night of April 13 and were up early the next morning for the 90-mile trip to the shelter. When we arrived, it became obvious the volunteers were very attached to Roxy. She came out into the small reception area and walked right up to Jody. No growling, no hesitation, just enthusiasm. She was beautiful, and our hearts soared.

We have never looked back. She has been a wonderful addition to our family. In keeping with her guard dog heritage, Roxy tends to bark as people approach our front door. This prompted one of our older friends to ask, "Did you really need a dog?" My wife, Jody, said, "We really didn't know how much we needed a dog."

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