I had the typical childhood growing up in New Jersey. I lived on a quiet street with a fenced-in backyard. We were one of the only families on our street to have a swimming pool. I rode my bike all around town and had to be home when the street lights came on. I had everything a typical kid in my era would have, including a dog.

My family always had dogs while I was growing up. We seemed to get a new dog shortly before the older one passed away. My parents thought it would lessen the blow if we had a younger dog around when the inevitable happened. I was lucky the dogs we had (all different breeds and sizes) were always very loving. I knew I would always have a dog in my life and that I wanted my kids to someday experience the joy I had as a child playing in the backyard with a dog that loves you unconditionally.

My wife (fiancée at the time) and I lived together before we got married. We rented a townhouse in a nice neighborhood. I was out one day, saw a puppy in a pet shop and fell in love with the cutest black lab ever. I called my then fiancée and asked if we could get her. After a bit of persuading, we got our new little pup. We named her Moosh.

Moosh was a great dog, a little crazy, but such a loving girl. She was with us when we bought our house, got married and when both kids were born. I loved her very much; and after she passed away at 14.5 years, I couldn’t see myself getting another dog.

A year to the day after Moosh passed away, we went to look at a German Shepard puppy we saw in the newspaper. The whole family piled into the car, and I told my wife, “We are only going to look.” She replied, “If the kids like the dog, we’re getting it.” Me, thinking I’m smart, told her, “I didn’t bring the checkbook.” She looked at me and said, “I did.” You guessed it: We got the dog.

Her name was Lucky. She was beautiful with a great disposition. A year later, my daughter really wanted a small dog, so we got her a Yorkie Poo named Chloe. I am partial to big dogs, so I wasn’t thrilled about getting a small dog. Turns out that little dog took to me. She would climb up and sit in my lap and fall asleep while I watched TV. We had a great run with those two dogs. They saw my kids graduate high school and then college. They helped me through the death of both my parents by being there. I think they knew I needed them. I fell in love with both these dogs, which made it incredibly hard when Lucky passed away at 13.5, and Chloe at 14. After Chloe passed away, I vowed never to have another dog as it hurt too much. Little did I know what was in store for me.

Again, almost a year to the day that Chloe passed away, I was in the car going to look at a puppy. My daughter was home on a gap year before medical school, and she and my wife kept commenting on how quiet it was and how they missed having a dog. I agreed we could get a new dog, but I got to pick it. I researched and found what I wanted and then called to schedule a time to visit a litter of puppies. I kept this all quiet from the family, as I wanted to bring the dog home as a surprise.

I traveled about two hours to a farm in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. When I got there, an Amish woman took me to the barn where there were five male and three female silver Labradors. I wanted females, as they tend not to be as aggressive, so they were brought out to a pen for me to play with them. They were purebreds. Both the mother and father were on site, and I got to meet them. The mom was tired from nursing the puppies, but so calm and gentle. She was about 75 pounds. The dad had a little more energy and ran in from the cornfield when called. He was big, about 120 pounds. I love big dogs, and the parents of these puppies were what I envisioned when I drove up. As I played with the puppies, one kept coming up to me and wasn’t worried about playing with the other puppies; she only wanted to play with me. Later, I would say, “She chose me.”

I brought the dog home, and as everyone came home for the day, they got to meet the most beautiful silver Labrador. She had blue eyes that really stood out. Unbeknownst to me, many silver Labs are born with blue eyes, and they change colors over time. My dog’s eyes eventually turned to a really pretty green color. As a family, we discussed what her name would be, and we ended up calling her Remy; we called her Remy as she is the remedy for a bad day.

The first year we had Remy was, to say the least, a trying experience. My wife and I are older now, and we haven’t had a puppy in 15 years. The dog had so much energy, we weren’t prepared for it. She was great about house training. She only had one accident in the house the entire time we’ve had her (knocking on wood as I write this). She did chew everything in sight, including chairs, tables, sweaters, t-shirts and socks. She would chew on the clothes, usually while you were wearing them. At the end of her first year, we got a dog trainer, and she helped us learn how to control her. She now listens to her commands and is calm. We take her for walks, and people are amazed by how relaxed she is for a 2-year-old dog.

At the end of each day, Remy is so excited to see me because she knows I’ll take her in the backyard and throw a ball to her for a while. I loved all my dogs, but Remy is different. She is always where I am, and she knows when I’m happy or sad. She knows if she should act silly to make me laugh or if she should just lay her head on my knee to comfort me. There is a bond that is hard to describe with this dog. I said no more dogs, but now I can’t imagine life without her.

— Sean Olin, director of sales