‘He just melted my heart’ June 20, 2025

“I was a dog walker in the fall/winter of 2015 when I met a senior dog named Lincoln! He was a lab/shepherd mix and about 11 years old (estimate by owner who surrendered him).

He was surrendered by his family when they had to move out of their current location to housing that would not allow a dog of his size. They mentioned he had some anxiety that manifested in him chewing at his tail sometimes. I noticed how sweet his face was with a gray muzzle and big brown eyes. He just melted my heart.

It was cold and snowy out that season, but boy oh boy did Lincoln just love it! He romped, ran and wrestled around in the yards whenever I took him out. I started to miss him on days that I did not volunteer and began watching the website daily to see if he was adopted.

His tail was a bit unsightly with missing fur and some bits of crusty areas. He was a senior and quite vocal because the kennel was not his favorite place. It was becoming obvious that finding an adopter would be difficult. The holidays (Thanksgiving and Christmas) came and went while other dogs were adopted, but he was still there after the New Year’s celebrations.

I started to notice that he was a bit down in spirits, so I made it my mission to walk him as often as I could. When I went for my shift, I would take him out first and then once more before I left for the night. I just adored him. After thinking on it and chatting with an adoption counselor and my husband, we decided to give a dog introduction a try.

Lincoln was very happy to meet my two black labs. They all got along quite well. We took the fella home on a cold winter Tuesday as a “foster to adopt” but knew within a couple of days that he was meant to be with us! That anxiety mentioned by the previous owners was never witnessed at our house. His tail cleared up with some antibiotics.

Lincoln was potty trained, loved playing, walked like a dream on leash, enjoyed toys such as rope toys or squeaky toys, never destroyed anything and was a fabulous addition to our pack. His official adoption day was January 17, 2016.

After his first year he started to limp on his right front leg. It was intermittent and the vets thought it was arthritis. We had many appointments for imaging, therapy, meds etc. but the limping continued on and off for about 6 months.

One day at the specialist, they redid his x-rays and unfortunately found the cause: osteosarcoma (bone cancer).

Both vet teams recommended pain management, which we started right away. We promised him walks at the park each day until he could not do his walks comfortably. Then, in his excitement to go for his nightly walk, he dashed out the door into the garage where he slipped and fell with a yelp. We found out the next day his leg had fractured at the location of the cancer and had to make a decision to let him go or amputate his leg.

We chose the latter, and his leg was immediately amputated with a decent recovery. He was a champ and did not let having three legs keep him from enjoying the remaining months of his life!!!

His nicknames were “Lincolnshire,” “Bink,” “Bonk” and “Army Dog” because he had such a fighting spirit! Lincoln let us know when he was done hanging out on this side, and we said goodby at home on a Sunday afternoon in December of 2017. We had him about two years and would do it all over again because he had the best personality and passion for life.

To this date, he has been my one and only dog who loved searching for, carrying around and chewing on sticks which just filled my heart for him. Such a simple part of being a dog, yet it brought him immense joy!

If you made it this far in my story, PLEASE PLEASE consider adopting a senior at the Nebraska Humane Society! You will never regret it!

Until we meet again Lincoln – loving you still from this side!”

-Candy

(103/150)