Retriever to the Rescue! For Sunny, Hurley and Jake

In earlier blogs, I wrote about a couple of the great dogs our family has had the privilege of loving.  The loss of our yellow lab , Sunny, due to diabetes was hard, yet not unexpected. She really persevered longer than we had imagined that she would.  I did not plan to adopt another dog for a while, until that big black bundle of heart and soul, named Hurley, at age 11 needed a home.  It was a surprise to have my heart so immediately stolen.  The year we had him in our lives gave us a new level of companionship that we had never known, however, it was shortened when he abruptly died three days after the diagnosis of lymphoma.
That sudden loss was harder to bear than any before, and although there will never be another Hurley,
we needed to find a great dog to heal our hearts.
Welcome Jake!  A veterinary assistant had heard about our loss and recommended this floppy, oversized golden retriever from a foster home nearby.  He had been rescued at age 5 months... ( yikes, a puppy? I wondered) ... but within minutes of meeting him, I was in love . . . and after the trial period, he has come to be ours and we have come to be his.  This morning as it was time for yoga stretches, this 80 lbs, 6 month old decided to place his massive furry paw on my chest and with his face over mine, miles of loose skin and gold sagging into his nose and eyes.  I said, "Jake, I didn't know you knew CPR!"  After saying those words, I realized that he really had done just that.  Revived our hearts, with "Cute, Caring, Precious puppy Resuscitation".   Man's best friend has done it again.