Spring Stories of Dog Mom Love
Spring is in full swing, and life's a whirlwind! I’m recently back from the incredible Global Pet Expo, where pet brands from all over showcased a jaw-dropping array of innovative, beautiful, and downright fun pet products. I had a mission: to unearth amazing new additions for Dog Mom Lifestyles that will enrich your life with your dog.
But after the travel frenzy, I craved some time to unwind and reconnect with the heartwarming core of the pet world: the incredible stories of human-animal connection. Fortunately, these stories are everywhere, and I couldn't wait to share some of my recent online favorites with you!
4 feel-good stories of Dog Mom (and Dad) love
1. The awesome power of friends and the Internet
Even though I leave my dogs in the care of people I love and trust, there’s no worse travel experience than getting a message that your dog, left safely at home, has been lost.
This March, a woman named Hannah Riley got an unbelievable phone call that her beloved dog, Hazel, escaped during a veterinary visit. And why was she at the veterinarian? She had gotten into her petsitter’s stash of legal weed gummies! Hannah was out of the country and couldn’t personally search for her tiny elderly Papillon, who was apparently high and out wandering the highways and neighborhoods alone.
Enter the magic of friends, strangers, and the internet! Even before Hannah was able to get home the next day, a friend had postered the entire area, and internet strangers, Atlanta locals and Riley’s friends had begun the search for the missing pup. When little Hazel showed up on the doorstep of a family five days later and three pounds lighter, they recognized the story of the missing pooch and got her home! You can enjoy the entire inspiring story here.
2. Pet biz owners are heroes
One thing I’d always known: people in the pet business don’t just help pets as a career, they make them the center of their heart and soul. I ran across this story from a few years back about dog and cat groomer Haley Dube, who volunteered to crawl into a drain pipe to rescue Flaik the cat. She had been stuck there for six days! Haley was small enough to fit where others couldn’t, and risked the small space, mess, and stink to return Flaik to her desperate cat mom.
If you’re tempted to take a similar risk in the future, be careful, and make sure rescue personnel are close by, because enclosed spaces can be full of risks, including trapped gasses that aren’t safe to breathe. But you can’t help but admire people who don’t hesitate to say “I will!” when the pet in danger isn’t even their own.
3. Just a girl, a guy, and a canine cruising around the world
Here’s a story I found that’s filled with generosity, adventure, tragedy, and love. Jess Stone was cruising the world with her dog Moxie, a globe-trotting German Shepard, together on their motorcycle. Yes, a motorcycle! They were working their way through a 90-country route across five continents, in partnership with global nonprofit Girl Up! The media fell in love, covering her original story here.
Then tragedy struck when her husband and fellow traveler was struck by a bus – an accident that destroyed his motorcycle and left him with broken bones. Then Jess’s life was further shattered when her beloved Moxie passed away from complications during a routine surgery.
After months of dogless healing, and a cross-country trip visiting both body and heart, she and Greg finally found a new pup, who they named Whimsy, and are now back to traveling and raising funds for Girl Up! You can follow their adventures here on their own website, GoRuffly Around the World.
4. From warrior canine to wedding best man
And then, I just love this TikTok of Rex the retired military dog, who is now serving as his dog-dad’s Best Man at his wedding, looking absolutely dapper in his very own tux. There’s nothing like love to wrap up a life of adventure. You can go down a rabbit hole of Rex’s life on his TikTok channel here!
Tell me your heart-filled Dog Mom stories!
If you have a heartwarming or hero story about your own pet, or something inspiring you found online, let me know over on Facebook! And if you want a lovely adventure of your own every single month, subscribe for your very own Dog Mom Lifestyles box, and let the joy come right to you!
