Puppies! Patch Readers Share Joy and, In the Case of Melfie, Heartbreak

Patch readers love their pooches.

We put out a call for photos to commemorate National Puppy Day, a day set aside to raise awareness of puppy mills and encourage adoption, and several readers told us how much their dogs mean to them.

Charlie

Consider Charlie, a golden retriever Kris Kogut and her family got to replace a 14-year-old golden that had been a faithful companion to her father, who had been lonely since the dog’s death.

“Charlie has brought so much to our family,” Kogut wrote. “Besides companionship, he reminds us to stop and appreciate the little things in life. Watching him discover new things each day is so much fun to capture.”

Mastiff Puppies

Patti Henes writes that her family kept one of seven mastiff puppies born June 27, 2014.

“Our family had a year of medical challenges and these puppies gave us so much love and comfort,” Henes wrote. “We kept one of the females and she is such a joy and is so dedicated and loving to our family. Priceless is what they were.”

Cody

Beth Sinclair’s puppy, Cody, turned 10 months this week. He’s not just a joy because of the companionship he brings, but also because he’s being trained to be a leader dog for the blind.

“We will only have him for a year, so we enjoy every day we have with him,” Sinclair said.

In the picture, he is “working” at a restaurant near Michigan State University, where Sinclair’s son is a student.

Dakota

Brian Sharp of Shelby Township says Dakota “has the makings of a great dog.”

“He is still learning, but puppy kisses are the best,” Sharp writes. “He instantly makes my day better.”

Topopo

Molly Ziske writes that her puppy, Topopo (pronounced Ta-poe-poe), was rescued at 3 months and is now 1½ .
“I had no plans to get a dog, but seeing that puppy face clearly clouded my judgment,” Ziske writes, saying it was the “best decision I’ve ever made.”

“She completes my family and I can’t imagine life without her,” she said.

Melfi

Finally, Carla and Jim O’Neill of Dearborn write about a standard poodle puppy named “Pink,,” who became “Melfi.” Grab your tissues.

In Carla’s words:

Melfi was much loved by her owner, Susan, who believed that Melfi could become an agility champion, even though she was a poodle. So, for the first four years of her life, Melfi was groomed and trained to become an agility champion.

Against many odds, including but not limited to her breed, Melfi prevailed and racked up many awards.

But there was just one more agility award Melfi needed to win to become the most winning standard poodle in history.

Susan and Melfi trained together very hard and were about to enter the final competition that would forever put Melfi in the annals of agility championships.

That is when Melfi’s owner Susan, became very ill. She had joint problems and pain that prevented her from continuing Melfi’s training. Eventually, she was diagnosed with an incurable form of leukemia and had to give up the agility training.

Melfi was heartbroken and spent countless days and nights hiding underneath the dining room chairs and table, while Susan was taken to the hospital for countless procedures, including blood transfusions and two bone marrow transplants, none of which saved her life.

While she was fighting for survival, Susan was most concerned about the future of Melfi. We promised Susan to take care of Melfi if Susan should not survive her horrible and painful fight for life. We made that promise out of love, because after having put down our last dog nearly 20 years ago, the last thing we wanted was the pain of parting with another one. But we set aside those concerns and that is how we ended up with this wonderful dog, who we tried to pass off as a rescue dog so she could see Susan in the hospital. In the end, Melfi was not allowed in the hospital, and Susan did not live.

But, in the end, Melfi also rescued us from our grief and fears of allowing another dog into our lives and hearts.