This story was originally shared on The Animal Rescue Site. Submit your own rescue story here. Your story just might be the next to be featured on our blog!

“We don’t need another dog.”

When Northern Lakes Rescue posted Lily’s photos online for the first time, I said to my husband, “We don’t need a third dog, but look at her!” She was severely wounded, had been picked up as a stray, and I could not stop looking at her. Then the second post delivered another blow: she had tested positive for heartworm. Amazingly, Northern Lakes Rescue still said yes to the thousands of dollars in medical bills it would take to put this girl back together.

Kelly Brunson

At the same time Lily was making her way from Texas to Minnesota, we were on our way home from vacation to pick up our dogs. When we arrived, the dog I had already shown my whole family was in my mother’s garage, waiting for her foster. Five minutes later, we knew she was the missing piece of our family.

Kelly Brunson

No one warned us that, within a couple of months, we would lose our first dog to leukemia just a week after she got sick. At a time when I could not imagine forming a bond with another dog, Lily woke me up every morning with something new and equally silly. Sometimes she wore a curtain on her head. Sometimes she brought me one shoe, as if checking whether I was ready to put it on.

Kelly Brunson

Lily the Shep has changed my life. She is outgoing, expressive, and the center of attention everywhere she goes, sometimes by force. She has pushed me to be social and helped me meet so many new people. She has an appetite for new experiences and always finds a way to show me what she wants to try.

Kelly Brunson

Lily has brought me peace, chaos, and a whole new understanding of what a bond with a dog is supposed to be. She is my soul dog. She has healed my soul.

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Story submitted by Kelly Brunson.

This story was originally shared on The Animal Rescue Site. Share your very own rescue story here!