My dog Pandora came from Palm Valley animal shelter in Texas by way of Furever Safe rescue in Southern Maryland. She is the light of my life. She is an incredibly wonderful girl, in spite of having had a very difficult life before being rescued. She is believed to have been a stray in the Rio Grande Valley until the age of about three years. She is my first dog, and I adopted her New Year’s Eve 2023-24, underweight, with heartworm, a double ear inflection, and a tick borne blood illness. I’m happy to say that she is very healthy now.

She is a velcro dog and loves every person she has ever met. She showers them with affection, usually standing on her hind legs to greet them. She is especially attached to my husband, whom she met 6 months after I adopted her, and my parents. She even won over my mother, who has never been a dog person, but who now begs to dogsit her. She has made a few doggie friends and is working hard on her dog-to-dog interactions.

Her signature poses are lying with her front paws crossed, and standing on her hind legs with her front paws on a person‘s belly begging for attention. She is so smart and picks up the meaning of every sound easily; for instance she can distinguish phone notification dings to know which exact one means someone is at the door. She did not know a single command or even her name when I got her, but now she knows a lot of words. She is very athletic and passed a doggie parkour course with flying colors! And now she is thriving with a newborn human sister; she is so sweet with her.

She is my soul dog, and I cry inside every day, knowing that I have one fewer day left with her. I call her my 35-pound angel and can’t imagine my life without her. Thank you for bringing her to Maryland and into my life! Attached are photos from our past two years together.