‘I volunteer to honor her memory’ July 26, 2025

“About 20 years ago, my mother-in-law had just lost her husband and wanted me to go with her to pick out a dog.

I jumped at the opportunity. There was this sweet, scraggly dog that sat at the kennel front looking at us so calmly and patiently. My mother-in-law wasn’t interested because she was too big and not cute enough. She picked out a rat terrier. This dog was too hyper, jumping all over us.

I talked her into meeting the scraggly dog. The adoption counselor brought her in, and she was perfect. I could tell the volunteer was very excited we were considering her. We decided to sleep on it and come back the next day. She was still thinking the dog was too big and not cute enough. I couldn’t get this dog out of my mind. I had it in my head that she would never get adopted because she was funny looking. To my surprise, the next day, my mother-in-law called me first thing and wanted to get that dog.

The same counselor was so happy when we told him we were back to get Mackenzie. As we were checking out, they announced on the speaker that Mackenzie was going home and about 10 people came rushing out to say goodbye. Some people were even crying!

We took her home and got her a cute haircut. My mother-in-law got sick about 6 months later and couldn’t keep her. My husband wasn’t too happy, but I insisted she join our family of three boys and two dogs. Mackenzie turned out to be the best dog! I took her everywhere! She went to hundreds of baseball games with me to watch my boys. She rode with me on all my errands if it wasn’t hot. She even became a reward for the classrooms I taught. I remember sneaking her into a hotel room in my suitcase, and she never made a peep as we walked by the front desk. She was about 6 when we got her, and we had her 10 years. She will always be my favorite dog. After she died, I decided to become a volunteer to honor her memory. I have been a dog walker for 12 years now. About a year after she died, I adopted another great dog that looked at me with the same eyes.”

-Susie

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