by Lalinda De La Fuente

“I’m about to be a dad.” These were the words of our webmaster Chris Daeppen while waiting for his new dog, almost like an expectant father, at Miami-Dade Animal Services. He had already visited a couple of places seeking out a new furry companion but none were quite the right fit. It wasn’t until he stumbled across Calvin online did he find the dog he was looking for.

Calvin now has a new home with the ONLYforPETLOVERS webmaster and has been renamed Brian. This Brian won’t be drinking martinis like the one on Family Guy but he's just as smart and fun-loving. We’re not quite sure what he is but we suspect maybe some sort of collie or sheltie and Bernese or greater Swiss mountain dog. It doesn’t matter though. The important thing is that now he has a home…and just in time.

When Chris called about the fluffy pooch Miami Animal Services not only divulged that he had kennel cough but that the dog was about to be put down unless someone came and adopted him. It was fate and he could not refuse.

With mats in his fur and worms in his stomach the dog that escaped being put down is now happy and getting healthier every day. Freshly groomed, eating more and more everyday and taking his meds, this dog is appreciating the change of lifestyle. Chris says the once gaunt pooch is filling out every day and that he is extremely well-behaved. According to him, he’s not a barker, not destructive and fully house-trained.

After recently seeing Brian myself he seems happy, almost unaffected by his stay at Animal Services. Upon sitting down in Chris’s apartment he trotted over to me, put his front paws on my lap and laid his head down, all the while looking up at me with his puppy dog eyes.

For someone like me, who deeply appreciates the animal-human bond, it was a relief. While scratching behind Brian’s ear I was happy for the canine and happy that Chris chose to take him home. Brian is now one less animal in a shelter but it still pains me to think of all the other animals that did not and will not get that chance.

Congratulations to our webmaster Chris on his new pooch! See more photos of Brian on Chris’s ONLYforPETLOVERS profile!