Dear AFH, This month (June) would have been the 13th “Adopta-versary” of our Jenny, but sadly she crossed the rainbow bridge on February 6, 2023. We adopted Jenny as an adult dog (~2 years old). She was a mystery mix of breeds, a wild-child and escape artist in her early years, a hiking companion, toy-destroyer, and a soft and fluffy shedding machine. She loved her daily walks, no matter the weather. She was a people dog – absolutely loved everyone, and everyone loved her. Jenny was always the curious explorer and loved to go everywhere. She travelled cross-country by car twice in 3 years when we moved to California (then back) and travelled with us on many local trips. She saw the mountains and the beach on both coasts. Jenny brought us so many laughs and was our whole world. She started to have significant health challenges in late 2022 and passed at home with both of us by her side. We are heartbroken and miss our Jenny-dog tremendously.

Sincerely, Lisa & Tom

Beamer became part of our family in 2012 thanks to AFH, he was originally named Elmer.  He was such a loving, gentle, and happy dog.  Our favorite memory of him is sitting in his own camping chair.  He lived a great life of 11 years until he was diagnosed with Lymphoma and passed away in May 2023.  He will always be remembered and loved by us.  Thanks, AFH for allowing us to enjoy him!

My sweet Buddy passed away May 25, 2023. I adopted him on December 22, 2018. He was the best and most loving companion. He was such a gentle soul who just wanted to be petted and lay in the sun!

We adopted Chloe from AFH when she was a year and a half old in July 2011.  When we first brought her home her tail would just not stop wagging!  She was so chill, which was very helpful as our other dog got used to not being the only child anymore.  Chloe loved getting pets, laying out in the sun and was just generally happy to be here.  As she became an old lady her kidneys decided they had had enough, and she crossed the rainbow bridge.  She will be very much missed.

In loving memory of Edwin (Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla) – Diva, Food hound, and our sweet little boy

We adopted Edwin from “A Forever Home” in July of 2016, and he has been a joy to our family since then. A beagle/border collie mix, he was fun, happy and goofy – and of course, always hungry.  But even more than food, he loved his routine and being with his humans.  In many ways he acted like an old man, but he was still always excited, welcoming us home when we were away for any period of time, as he made sure we got lots of kisses and enthusiastic tail-wags to prove his devotion and loyalty.  He tolerated being dressed up and patiently learned many tricks, just to please us. He died recently, joining the other furry friends of our family who’d passed during his time with us. Although we wished we could have kept him longer, we are comforted knowing he was greatly loved during his short life, in a home where everyone fought over who’d get to spend time with him.  If love could be measured by number of pictures and videos taken and shared, Edwin would undoubtedly win a top prize. We are all better for Edwin being in our lives, and I for one will be forever grateful I was convinced (coerced) into adopting him that summer day seven years ago.

Ken, Maria, Megan, Dominic, Will, Sofia

Hello – we adopted Celeste ( whom we renamed Sophie) in 2007ish  when she was about 6 months old and we were a foster family for you in Chantilly. We didn’t even make it the 3 blocks home from her pick up before I knew she was meant for us. We called her our happy accident of genetics – we had our guesses but whatever the mix was she was purely wonderful. Full of joy, life, spunk, grit- maybe a little short on common sense. We were grateful she was not our human child as she would have put us in an early grave but as our dog she only gave us a few more gray hairs along with the happiness she brought our whole family. Always game to go for a hike, always ready to tell us what she needed. The vet said he had no idea how this dog continued to walk since she had no joints left to speak of, but, until this last year, that never slowed her down, tail always wagging, happy face always ready for more fun. more. The steroids the vet gave Sophie gave a couple of nice months to enjoy the spring, enjoy us, just be Sophie – at 33 rpm, but still Sophie. Yesterday seemed a little different- fewer wags, more far away looks. That was redoubled today. She was saying it was time. So  we are spent our morning cuddling, rubbing and reminding her how important she is to us. The vet came at one.  We will miss her every day. See her playing get the baby at age 15 https://youtube.com/shorts/F5Tl4hrcKYc

We adopted our dog Coco from A Forever Home in 2010….  Unfortunately due to health issues we made the difficult decision to put her down on January 8, 2023. She was a black purebred Cocker Spaniel and quickly became a member of the family.  She was here for the birth of our two children and always a very friendly and protective pet to both of them.  Coco was an extremely intelligent and loyal pet.  In the evenings she loved to jump up on the couch and cuddle next to you.  She was very gentle with both children and loved to give kisses.  She had a couple of health issues with her knees, eyesight, and hearing but we were thankful to have her in our home for almost 13 years.  One of our favorite memories was taking her for walks at my in-laws who lived out in the country.  We would take her off her leash and she would run ahead, stop, turn around and look at us and wait until we got closer, then she would take off, run ahead, stop, turn around, and wait. She would do this the entire walk and we thought this was the funniest thing.  She really was the best family dog and best dog in general.  We miss her trememdously but are glad to have had so many years with her and happy that she is no longer in any pain. 

On March 22nd, 2023 my beloved Lexie (Nyla) crossed over the rainbow bridge at the age of 17. Lexie came into my life in December 2013 and I am not sure who rescued who.  She was part of the Valentine’s Day rescue.  She was the sweetest dog and loved by all who met her.  Lexie had a rough first half of her life but her last half was filled with lots of love and adventures.  Her favorite thing was to be at home with me where she was my shadow and constant companion. Lexie really enjoyed her walks, riding in the car, butt rubs and eating her treats.  She was a really special dog and is greatly missed.  I just loved how her little tongue out due to having no teeth.

Hi Maribel and Mary…I loved receiving Mary’s message – over the years, I often wondered what happened to Ritter’s (aka Blitzen’s) siblings. It pains me to share with you that Ritter passed away at the end of January this year. Like Almond, our family felt Ritter was the BEST dog ever…My husband and I welcomed him into our family at the Chantilly PetSmart…At the time, he was our one and only baby. How lucky were we to welcome him into our home right before the Snowpocalypse – we loved the extra time with him and still remember his confusion when the ground stopped being white 🙂  Fast forward a few years and Ritter became big brother to Charlotte and then Claire. It was around that time (circa 2016) that Ritter started to really love the benefits of living with my in-laws whose daily routine included coffee and pound cake at Starbucks followed by hikes all throughout the area and Shenandoah. In his lifetime, he would complete 220 trails for a total of 1,750 miles (not counting his daily 1-2 mile local hikes) including every mile of trail on Massanutten Mountain….There is not a day that goes by without us thinking of him.