My Chloe Dog

I want to share my Chloe story.  My Chloe is a boxer who I adopted from the animal shelter in Abilene Texas.  They have a wonderful animal rescue organization there called rescuetheanimals.org.  
My whole life I have owned a dog or 2 or 5 but when we lived in Japan I was not allowed to own a dog.  We lived in what are called the towers which are just apartment complexes on the base.  We moved into the towers because there were no houses available at that time and thought we would be able to move once a house became available.  We didn't learn that wasn't possible until after we accepted the apartment.  Living in Japan was really hard for me, the move was very stressful and living so far away from family was really hard.  Jon was working 12 hour shifts all the time and we didn't see much of him.  Jon 2 and I butted heads a lot because he was just as stressed as I was but I just didn't appreciate how much.  I could own an animal as long as it lived in a cage.  Jon bought me some birds, finches to be exact, and they were pretty cool.  Then we got a guinea pig and it was okay but not it wasn't a dog.  I got pretty depressed and my doctor recommended that we be allowed to move out of the towers into a house but the base commander wouldn't allow it so we were stuck.  After 8 months I came back to the states to help a family member and ended up staying while Jon and Jon 2 stayed in Japan.  I tell you all this to explain Chloe.  I really wanted a dog no I needed a dog, a boxer to be exact.  I knew about the rescue organization because they are who we gave my pugs to when we got orders to Japan. I loved my pugs but just couldn't bring them with us and that made me really sad.  They were wonderful little dogs and it broke my heart to leave them behind. I started looking on their website and saw several boxers that had been put up for adoption.  I picked Chloe and the rescue group went and got her from the animal shelter, took her to the vet and had her spayed and checked over and had her ready when I went to pick her up.  It was a 5.5 hour drive from Haughton Louisiana to Abilene Texas but it was worth it.  When I picked her up she only weigh 29 pounds but she was so sweet and amazing and has been the best dog I have ever owned.  I write this blog because she is getting toward the end of her life.  Although I don't know her exact age it is estimated that she is probably 14 years old and that is pretty old for a boxer. She has lost some weight is having a harder time getting around.  Most of her teeth are gone so I have to make her wet food to eat but I am willing to do that for her.  I know every day I get to spend with her is a blessing and she will be missed when she crosses over that rainbow bridge to join my Duchess who was a boxer too. It is hard to believe the impact a dog can make on a person's life but Chloe did that for me.  She brought joy to my life when I needed it the most.