In 2013 I lost my dog Slash to cancer. He was only 5 and a half and I wasn’t prepared at all. It was known to me that it would take awhile to let another dog into my heart. I wasn’t sure when I would be ready until February 2016. I didn’t know it, but I would have a new puppy before the month was over. The photo above is the one sent to me by the woman I adopted Lily from. This was my first look at my new best friend.

On February 14th 2016, Valentine’s Day, my boyfriend and I decided to spend the day petting puppies. We went to 3 pet shops, and the local shelter to pet all the dogs. That’s when I got the bug. I started doing what everyone does these days, went on Petfinder. Of course I wasn’t seriously looking for a dog to take home yet but I wanted to see what was out there.

I spent hours over the next week searching listings all over. It began with me looking on every local shelter website, Petfinder, Craigslist, and everywhere else on the internet that may have dogs for sale. I found a few dogs I liked but they were all older. Although I’d love to adopt a senior dog in the future I wasn’t ready to lose another dog so quickly after Slash. So I started looking at dogs one year and younger.

One day I was doing my daily search and saw an Australian Shepherd on craigslist for sale. The puppy was a brown and white, blue eyed, female, 8 week old puppy with a slight underbite. Adorable. She was being sold for less than normal as she couldn’t be bred for show. I decided to contact the woman selling that puppy and see if she was still available. I heard back right away. She said there was someone coming to meet the pup the next day and she would let me know if they decided not to get her. The woman emailed back the next day and the other person decided to adopt her.

I was crushed, I hadn’t even considered adopting a dog and hadn’t reached out to anyone until this. She then wrote back a little later saying that she did have 2 other puppies still from that litter. There was one female and one male. I then checked the attachments and saw this beautiful little angel I now call Lily Jasmine Shaw. Now, I have a hard time seeing any puppy and not wanting to take it home. So I wrote back that I would come meet her the next day and see how it went.

I called my grandma and asked if she would go with me. She agreed, so after I got off work, I drove from Tampa Florida to Inverness Florida where my family lives. The next morning my grandma picked me up and we made our way to Ocala Florida where the puppy was. On the way we stopped at the bank to get some cash “in case I took her home.” We then stopped at Tractor Supply to pick some things up. I picked up a kennel, leash, collar, and my grandma bought a soft kennel liner. It was obvious that the meeting would have to go pretttttty bad for me to not take this dog home.

On February 24th 2016, we pulled down the long driveway to the woman’s house, parked, and knocked on the door. She met us outside and took us over to the playpen where there were two rambunctious puppies. The woman picked up Lily and handed her to me. Lily started nibbling on my hair, then looked up at me, and I melted. It was all over then. The woman brought out Lily’s paperwork and shot records, I paid her and we left.

I, of course took too many photos with and of her in the car on the way back. She had a fun stop with us at a local produce stand and got lots of attention there. We then went to visit my mom, then my godmother. I spent some time at my mom’s, had dinner, and then I took my little girl home. We had our first night together and it was all I could have dreamed of.

Lily has turned into a wonderful, soulful, loving, loyal companion. She is my best friend and I am so lucky to have her in my life. I may be in a similar situation with Lily being diagnosed with cancer but I wouldn’t go back and change anything. I am so thankful that I answered that Craigslist ad.

Have a great week!

Love,

Jess & Lily