I LOVE LEO!

But I am sure many of you know that :)

At first I decided to help Leo when I was mourning my heart dog Sting. Sting was lost to cancer last Christmas. Once the holidays were over, I started crying and could not stop. Its what I spent the little free time I had doing. When Tegan asked me to rehab Leo I had to think about it but decided it would be better to put the energy I was spending crying on helping this puppy.
Along this journey with Leo I have learned so much. One thing I have learned thanks to Sting and Leo both, is to never accept terrible things like terminal diagnosis or believing a dog will be handicapped or uber dependent forever etc. Even though these things may be correct, I have refused them. I put my heart and energy and strength into Sting's journey and we were fortunate to have him nearly two years after his diagnosis. We were origionally given 4-6 months. No one knew what Leo would be able to accomplish after surgery. I went into action mode with Leo, just as I had with Sting-I know no other way to react to things I find insurmountable.
In the first two weeks, Leo had reached rehab goals the surgeon's assistant said would not happen for months. After having that taste of success, I started to realize the possibility that he could truly lead the life of a normal dog thanks to the surgeon and the people who moved the earth to make it happen. I believe in Leo. I am inspired by his joyful attitude and the fact that he never gets discouraged. I am protective of his innocence. I am excited to experience his future victories by supporting him when he needs it, while leading him to a better place. We are a team.
That being said, I will admit my struggle with the dilemma of making Leo a permanent part of my family. I have agonized over this for the past months. Whether I loved him was never a question. I fell in love with him the moment I saw him. My concern was doing the absolute best thing for Leo. He is thriving here. He is happy every day. He has friends He gets to play and splash and stomp and run every day with them. He goes on car rides that are NOT to vet appiontments, or to be rehomed. He has a high quality diet and supplement protocol that is followed explicitly for his comfort. He has toys, boy bands, a custom knit sweater from a dear friend's Mom and collars galore. He has many human friends who love and support us and our journey. Soon we will start obedience, to further stimulate his brain and swimming to build up his rear end muscles.
The thought of placing Leo with anyone brings me to tears. To me, he is perfection already.