Tyler

'"My name is Tyler, and I'm a yellow Lab. When I was about 2 years old, I wandered into a yard in Houston one Saturday morning. Ann, the lady next door, took me in. I had infected ears, a bacterial infection, wasn't neutered, wasn't housetrained and I had very bad knees. After I got rid of the infections, Ann took me to HOT Lab Rescue, then she decided to adopt me.

Rescue had me neutered and treated for heartworm. Ann had my right knee fixed so it didn't hurt any more. But Ann's older dogs were upset by my rambunctious behavior, and she and I never bonded, so she reluctantly returned me to Rescue. They fixed my other knee, then fixed the right knee again.

Eventually I was placed with a nice family and lived with them and my favorite little girl for nearly a year. Then I slipped out an automatic gate and was hit by a car. I loved my family so much that I tried to follow them, and this terrible accident happened. Then I went to the Rainbow Bridge.

Ann still cared a lot about me and was devastated when I died. Almost 2 years to the day after she found me, she found a little yellow Lab/beagle mix who apparently had been dumped because she was pregnant. Ann named her Mila (the Russian word for "sweet"), had her spayed, housetrained her and helped her overcome severe separation anxiety. She made the move with Ann and her two older dogs back to California and is now very happy. (I arranged for Mila and Ann to meet that early morning, because I knew Mila needed a good home ). I went through so many medical procedures, and I wasn't able to enjoy my "forever home" for very long. But at least my last year was a happy one, and I helped another Lab find her forever home.

I will never forget the people who helped me, and I know they will always remember me, too.