Canine Characters

Several of my books have side characters of the canine variety. Damien and Lexi even met thanks to their dogs. You might be asking yourself why? The answer is simple: dogs are an important part of my life and I wanted to include them in my stories.

After I found out I couldn’t have children, I was left feeling down, feeling like something was missing. I knew I needed something to help fill the empty space left in my heart. I would soon find out that space was destined to be filled by a cold. wet nose with a wiggle-butt.

One fateful day in 2003, I got my answer. My husband works for our local township. He was in the yard when our local dog catcher stopped by with a stray she picked up, a gorgeous black lab mix. My husband fell for her instantly, so that afternoon, he took me to the shelter to meet her. I sat down on the bench while one of the shelter staff went to get her.

She ran right up to me, jumped on the bench, and licked my face. At that moment, I knew. I knew what my fate was. I finally understood why I couldn’t have children. I was needed for a different purpose. This beautiful dog had been abused and was afraid of children. Had we had them, we would not have been able to keep her.

We had to wait a week, allowing previous owners the chance to claim her if she was actually a runaway. On that seventh day, I called the shelter who let me know she would be coming home with us. She was found with no collar, so the shelter had no idea what her name was. We decided to call her Midnight.

Midnight’s former owners abused her, as evidenced by things she was afraid of. It took time to build that trust with her. I couldn’t even pat her head. If she saw my hand coming, she would cower. I would very slowly give a light rub across her head to teach her not all hands hurt. One day, I felt a head rub my hand. She never cowered again. We definitely rescued each other.

Midnight crossed the rainbow bridge in May of 2013. In July of that same year, Holly came to live with us, after being abandoned by her former owners. I’ve always believed that Midnight had a paw in sending us Holly. Holly is another beautiful black mix, definitely our favorite breed.

Thanks for listening! Stay tuned next weekend for another behind the scenes blog!

My best,

Samantha