Larry Johnson had seen a post about our Silver Paws & Senior Hearts Program and reached out to see if we may have a good fit for him. He is an 88-year-old man living in his own home in North San Antonio. His daughters live close by and can help when needed but he is independent and looking for a good companion.
Two weeks before Larry applied, we had a call from a local shelter asking us to take in a very sweet Lab/Great Pyrenees blend. She had been dumped at the shelter and was at risk of euthanasia due to lack of space. She was an amazing girl! We knew we needed her!
Larry’s daughter, a Veterinary Technician had come to the rescue early to meet our senior dogs. It turns out Larry is over 6 foot tall and mostly blind. It seemed that could benefit from a larger dog as he could see them, and they wouldn’t get ‘under his feet’. We knew Callie would be the dog for him, but he met several while he was there. When he finally met Callie, she was great with Larry! It was almost an instant bond. Larry put her on a leash and took her for a walk around the rescue, this was important to him as he liked to take walks. She walked perfectly with him. As he walked through the front of the rescue there was a tree branch that would hit him as he is so tall. Just as everyone was telling him about the branch, Callie moved into him and made him miss that branch. We were all in shock. Did she really do that? The rest of the walk she made him avoid toys on the ground, stopped if others got in the way and acted like a true seeing eye dog. What an amazing connection between these two!
Larry adopted her right then and took her home! Callie was wonderful with Larry at home, and he renamed her Queenie because she is definitely the queen of the house! When his ‘grand dogs’ come to visit, Callie is very patient with them and gets along with everyone she meets.
Larry and Callie are truly a bonded pair of seniors, and they love and take care of each other without hesitation.
