Zanda
Zan, that's what we called her for short.  She came to us at age 8 through a lady who rescued her after someone left her for dead.  I am honored to say that this dog, whom someone had used, abused, and thrown away for garbage, became a part of our family.  Our home became her home and she warmed up to the 5 of us.  She was able to be loved and live in peace the remaining 6 years of her life.  She became healthy and comfortable, and at the end of her journey here on earth, my 12 year old son and I were able to hold her as she crossed over to the Rainbow Bridge.  We miss her and her quiet presence, but I can picture her at Rainbow Bridge right now; running, jumping, and most importantly, with her spirit fully restored.  Good girl Zan, we will see you again one day

Zeke
On April 14th of 2012, My fuzzy heart passed away. Zeker dog found me at an adoption event at PetSmart in 2006. My good friend was with me and said "have you found a partner" and I look down and Zeke is staring back at me saying "Ah yeah and it's me!". My huge fuzzy guy was amazingly sweet and kind and never met anyone he did not like. He showed us all compassion and love and was nicknamed Budhha Dog. Zeke and I fostered for the GSD rescue and not until Lizzie came home one day did HE decide we should keep her. It was wonderful to see my big guy show the ropes to a very scared young girl. Under his guidance, Lizzie has become the amamzing girl she is today. Lizzie sufferes from pannus and Zeke literally became her seeing eye dog. He was compassionate to people and animals the same. Halloween was his favorite holiday. He loved greeting all the kids at the door. He literally would greet every single child that came to the door and sometimes stick his head in their pumpkins to see what they had in there! I loved watching him romp in the snow with Lizzie. Throwing up chunks of snow at each other. Since he was such a big guy (100 lbs) and thick double coat of fur he loved the fall weather and I so enjoyed watching him sit outside on the deck and let the cool wind blow on his coat. he would close his eyes and lift his head up and just say AAAAHHHHHHH! There is not a day that passes that I do not miss you my Zeker dog. Lizzie and I miss you so very much. I am truly honored that you picked me to be your Human Mommy and shared your precious life with me. We love you - Mommy and Lizzie

Zeus
I had adopted Zeus from the Doc Williams SPCA just 3 days after I had lost my 11 year old GSD/Lab mix, Bruno to cancer. Zeus stood on my foot while I was talking to the tech about him. That's how I knew he had to come home with me. He loved everyone. He was about 2 years old then. The next year we started at Trident Hospital as a Pet Therapy Team. For 8 years we did this. He would get so excited when I would get his vest out. He loved it and he was greatly loved by the staff and visitors and patients. He also loved to go camping in our motorhome. Once at the campground his spot was on the dash board so he could look out. It was so much fun to watch people walking and stop to do a double-take to make sure they were seeing such a big dog, 87 lbs. He was such a comfort to all of us. He loved my youngest granddaughter who was born 2 and 1/2 months early and only weighed 3 lbs. Once she could start crawling & walking , he was with her. I hated to have to put him to sleep but I could by his eyes he was no longer happy and could not get up by himself. That was just Fri, Aug 3, 2012 and there hasn't been a day yet that I haven't shed a tear missing him so much. His "killing" his toy always brought a laugh and smile.