Entrant's Name
Madeline Priest

City & State
Shreveport & Ruston, LA

Your Pet's Story or Bio
We adopted our girl from the Humane Society of Northwest Louisiana in May of 2013. The Humane Society took her and her littermates off of the street when they were 5 weeks old. She lived there until she was 1 year and 3 months when she became part of our family.
My husband and I lost our first and oldest dog, a 13 year old dachshund named Jessie, to heart failure in March 2013. We were in complete shock because she showed no signs of being sick. Her death was traumatic for both of us. Three days later we found out our 8 year old black lab, Isabelle, was also in heart failure after a long illness. Eight weeks later she was gone too. Losing two furry kids so close together was more than my heart could take. I had to make something positive come out of my grief. We had other dachshund children, but I missed the presence of my big sweet lab. Anyone who has ever loved a lab knows what a special spirit they have. I knew the best way to honor our girls was to help a dog in need. Isabelle, who was also a rescue, would have wanted another dog like her to have her place in our home.
I looked at several puppies ready for adoption with various rescue groups and couldn’t decide between a young puppy or a dog a little bit older. I contacted the Humane Society of Northwest Louisiana and told them I was looking for a female black lab about a year old. I am an advocate for black animals; in my experience they are special! They told me about a dog they had named Shiloh who was a little over a year old and had been there since she was 5 weeks old. The crazy thing is that I remembered her picture on their Facebook page. She caught my eye months before in my Facebook news feed. We went to meet Shiloh and she was quiet and shy. I knelt down to talk to her and in a few minutes she was on her back asking for a belly rub. They said she’d been passed over many times, as many black dogs are. The thought of her never knowing a family brought tears to my eyes. We left to talk it over and make a decision. That night I waivered… puppies… why did I go look at puppies?! Puppies always get me in trouble! But I knew deep down a young puppy was not the right fit at the time.
Two days later, Courtney with the Humane Society brought Shiloh to our home, her forever home. She had never been in a house before; everything was strange to her- the TV, the refrigerator door closing, the sofa, the rug, her fluffy bed, MIRRORS! It was fun watching her discover her new world. I sent a photo of her in her new bed to the Humane Society and they said she looked “so proud”. That still brings tears to my eyes.
She came out of her shell and acclimated quickly to her new luxe life! She loves to play, watch TV, and relax on the sofa, the cool floor, or in her bed. My youngest dachshund taught her how to bark, attack the mail when it comes through the door, and help clean the dishes in the dishwasher. Dachshunds can be such bad influences on well behaved labs! We gave Shiloh a new name, Gemma. Gemma means “jewel/ gem”. I asked the Humane Society for their opinions on their Facebook page. When all of the volunteers shared with me how special she was, what a “gem” she was, and how happy they were that the right person had finally come for her, I knew “Gemma” was the right choice. Gemma has lived with us for over a year now. She’s now 2 ½ years old and the silliest, sweetest girl! We lost our 14 year old dachshund, Oscar, a few months ago to cancer. Gemma was so sweet to him when he was sick. He wasn’t a fan of her, but she loved him anyway. Gemma is my precious little jewel. I gave her a family and she helped heal my soul.


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