Dear Lucky Dog Family, It seems like yesterday that we were kicking off 2019 -- the year of our 10th anniversary -- but here we are in November already! We kicked off the year with an ambitious calendar -- and ambitious goals. Some might say too ambitious, but those people are not Lucky Dog. In the spirit of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday and in reflecting back on these past ten years, I thought I would share some of the things I am most grateful for. First and foremost, I am grateful for the support of my incredible Lucky Dog family. I don't talk about my own dogs all that much. But, this year -- and this month -- it seems appropriate. Ten years ago -- just before I started Lucky Dog, I had grand plans of trying to place a hypoallergenic rescue dog in the White House. I scoured the shelters and found two contenders. I found Pepper, a doodle mix of some sort, in a shelter in Delaware. She was surrendered by a family who claimed she was aggressive, but when I got her home, the most aggressive thing she would do was attack me with her tongue. She never met a human that was not in need of a wet slobbery kiss. She had two infected ankle joints -- and deep bite wounds -- but she never even so much as barked at another dog. I found Hobo in Newberry, South Carolina. An animal control officer that I worked with had served a warrant at a puppy mill. When leaving, he saw Hobo -- a 5 month old golden doodle -- tied to a tree, and couldn't bear to leave him behind. He came up to DC not long thereafter. Now, Lucky Dog had not yet been started, but my work with these two dogs put me on the path to where we are today. They may not have ended up in the White House, but that "failure" made me the luckiest one of all. Last month, during an x-ray for an upset stomach, we found out Hobo had a lung tumor. I leaned heavily on my Lucky Dog family for support as I weighed options and next steps. At the same time, Pepper started to refuse to eat. She had been battling small cell lymphoma for nearly 3 years, and it was becoming clear that her chemotherapy was no longer working. Hobo went in for surgery on Wednesday October 16th and came home after a successful surgery on the 17th. On the morning of the 18th, Pepper took a terrible turn for the worse -- after a couple of great days -- and I had to let her go. So, why, you might ask, am I sharing this story now? In a letter about gratitude? Because if it were not for my Lucky Dog friends and family, I could not have made it through the roller coaster of that week. I would not have had the strength to make the impossible decision I had to make. And, honestly, had I not been on my journey into animal rescue, I would never have had these two amazing animals in my life to begin with. Pepper inherently knew when I was sad, mad or stressed. She knew when her siblings were hurting and needed comfort. She knew when my niece just had to have her sit still for a tiara fitting. She brought endless joy to me -- and so many others. And, without rescue, without what became Lucky Dog, I would never have had that. And, I wouldn't really know why I fight so hard each and every day for so many rescue animals. | 
