Christmas Miracle Dog

It all happened in the midst of many other holiday events and craziness, but I wanted to share specifically about one of our Christmas miracles.  Her name is BB-8, and she’s my first grand-dog.  Sometime back in October or so talks began about Danny getting her own emotional support dog, by Thanksgiving break her counselor at college had gotten the green light and Danny had the okay to bring a dog back on campus for next semester.  For Danny the support comes in the form of someone to snuggle and love, as well as the incentive and push to take care of someone else, plus having the love given back on dark days when she especially needs to feel loved.  Our two dogs were really huge helps for Danny through her roughest years, and their presence was greatly missed.  Going into this process we all had concerns – to be on campus the dog needs to not be barky and be good with other dogs and people, to fulfil that emotional support role the dog would need to really be Danny’s dog and not love another human more (both our dogs ADORE Norbert more than anyone else, so this was a real concern), and they would have to get along with our bratty Gizmo who has only made three other dog friends in his whole time with us (all girls).  We really didn’t know how you could know these things when picking out a dog from a shelter, and our family believes in ‘Ohana’, we don’t return adopted family members (part of why we kept our Gizmo with his own issues 😉 ). December 19^th was the chosen ‘adoption day’, after a last trip to Disneyland as Danny knew she’d need to stay home with the new dog to bond, and just before more company arrived.  Danny and BB-8, then named Diamond, clicked instantly upon meeting.  It was love at first sight on both sides.  Diamond had just been brought in that morning, only hours before we arrived, the only info given as to why her previous people didn’t want her anymore was, ‘Religious reasons’. It said she got along well with children.  And that was it, no other info. We spent some time with Diamond in a little meeting area, and were encouraged as she perked up and listened to other dogs barking, but never barked herself.  She was relaxed and interested in her surroundings and in us, not hyper or nervous. Danny only fell more in love and knew this was the dog. Paperwork was done, and Diamond was adopted, became BB-8 and became part of our family. At five years old little BB had never been spade, and that needed to happen before she could come home with us. It would be two days before BB-8 came home, on the 21^st.  And then the miracle would unfold even more. From her first real time of being awake and exploring, BB locked onto Danny, followed her, whined when she left the room, in all ways showed that Danny was her chosen human, and that has never wavered. She was still woozy and coming off her drugs from the operation when she was first brought home, and so didn’t meet our dogs right away.  Stitch was thrilled with a new friend.  And then we introduced BB-8 and Gizmo, and Gizmo fell headlong into his first real crush, the dog is in love, BB can do no wrong – she can play with his toys, sit on his pillow and beloved ‘Buddy’, she eats first, gets petted and he’s not jealous but seems to approve of her getting attention.  It is seriously the funniest thing to witness.  BB-8 has often behaved so well, almost perfectly, that we’ve joked she’s not a real dog, but a spy or government agent. But beyond her being perfect, we’ve all been in awe of how fast and deep Danny and BB have connected – Danny had set aside those days to stay home so she could bond with her new dog, so they would know which human was theirs, especially in a house full to overflowing with humans.  There has never been a doubt that Danny is BB-8’s person, and it’s amazing and precious to watch.  Danny calls her many little pet names, but one that seems fitting is Angel, BB certainly seems sent from above, waiting for us to find her and bring her home – BB-8 needed Danny, while Danny certainly needed BB-8.  She’s our little Christmas Miracle Dog.

with cousin Jubilee at Travel Town

at her college dorm after Christmas break

after BB’s first bath!

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