Bunny Hope...

Her name was Inky Willow when I first laid eyes on her. She was a floofy white potato on the computer screen. A rescue dog in search of a home.

We had just lost our beloved Pomeranian Isabella and I was simply heartbroken. She had been my "heart dog". I wanted desperately to fill the large whole in my heart that was hurting.

And so I clicked on the link.

It took me to a rescue called Snooty Giggles and with a name like that, I knew this wasn't going to be your "run of the mill' rescue. At only 4 weeks, she was too young to adopt. But they shared her story.

She had been born into a litter of double merle Mini Aussie Shepherds. Double merle's are an expensive genetic mix and therefore can garner a hefty price to someone who wants their beauty. But there's a dark side of breeding 2 merle dogs.  And that's where Inky Willow found herself.

She was born blind and deaf.

A young girl, around the age of 13 named Hope, was at her brother's T-ball game when she overheard a man say his dog just had puppies but that he thought one was blind and deaf and he was going to take it behind the barn and shoot it.

Hope immediately got an adult and they approached the man, begging him not to shoot it but to let them take the puppy. They convinced him to give up the puppy and once they had Inky in their arms, they brought her to Snooty Giggles.

She was around 4-5 weeks of age, too young to be away from her mother or to adopt, but she found comfort with the other rescue dogs. She even found a mama dog who had recently lost her own puppies and took Inky as her own.

She spent days bumping into furniture and other dogs while navigating her way in the dark. But dogs with special needs learn to adapt quickly and she was no exception. Eventually Inky would be old enough to adopt so Snooty Giggles began advertising and Peace and Paws Rescue in NH began sharing the posts.

That's how I discovered Inky.

The photos of her simply tugged at my heart. I was used to little dogs, Pomeranians. She looked pretty little (she was only 6 weeks old by this time), how big could she get?! (I was a bit naive on that one!)

So without telling anyone, I inquired. Then I saw the videos they sent me.

I fell in love.

It took a little coaxing but eventually everyone was on-board with bringing her from TN to NH. A flight was booked, she was tucked into a dog carrier and placed under a seat on the plane and she landed in NY. We made the 4 hour drive to NY to pick her up and when we met her, our hearts melted. We made a few pit stops on the way back to NH. At the Lee, MA rest stop, my daughter noticed Inky liked to hop.

Right on the spot my daughter named her Bunny and since all our dogs have middle names, we decided to give her the middle name of Hope. It was to honor the girl who rescued her as well as be a shining example of how something born out of darkness can bring so much hope to the world!

I have many, many more stories to share about Bunny Hope, so I will save those for other blog posts.

But when things seem dark, or impossible, or hopeless. We can shine the Light of love and find true hope and joy...and sometimes it has four paws.