Macey Jayne

As we were preparing ourselves for the loss of our 17-year-old dog, we decided it would be a good idea to get a dog so that our 2-year-old would not be lonely. We came to the shelter to meet one of the dogs on the site who seemed like she would be a good fit, but she wasn't dog-friendly so we had to wait and come back another day.

When we did, there was a scrappy little girl, whom you were calling Eunice, on her way in. She was climbing the kennel door, chewing on it and just totally wacky! I looked at our son and said, "NO WAY! TOO HYPER!" But she looked at me as I walked away and said to me, "Oh...you'll be back. You know you want me." We went home that night, talking about how crazy that dog was and how we would wait and find a big, hairy, lazy dog like our older dog. We thought a calm dog might rub off on our young, crazy Redbone Coonhound, and the non-stop paws running up and down the stairs would stop.

We returned two days later, only to find that Eunice was still there. On a lark, we brought her out to the play area to meet our two dogs and it was an instant fit. The three of them were just perfect together! The two girls played and ran and wrestled like old friends, while the old one just observed. That little dog bonded with all of us very quickly and we realized that our dogs had made the decision for us.

We picked her up three days later and brought her home, only to find that we could not have done better! Our vet said, "You hit the shelter dog jackpot! She is a remarkable dog!" Of course...we know that! She settled in the first night and we cannot remember life before her arrival and cannot imagine life without her in our family. We dropped the name Eunice and call her Macey Jayne. And it suits her perfectly! She zooms around the house and is as silly as can be one minute and, with one simple command, she calms right down and snuggles with us. Whomever had this little girl surely loved her, because she was totally trained from the get-go. She got lost at just the time we needed to be found, and we're thrilled that she chose our family to enrich.

Suffice to say that the paws on the stairs have not stopped. They have, of course, doubled. The coffee table has become the infield of the canine racetrack our living room has become, and the baby gates are a joke. Macey literally FLIES over them, leaving the Redbone on the other side. So much for calming the Redbone down.

We lost the 17-year-old one week ago, and we all agree that Macey Jayne's being here has made all the difference for all of us in our mourning and our healing. She is a remarkable bundle of energy, love and humor, and our lives are forever blessed by having her here.

There are not enough thanks to express our gratitude to the wonderful staff and volunteers at MHHS for all that they do... for all of the creatures...every day!