Michael and Jackie were at lunch celebrating Michael’s birthday, when a photo of a dog popped up on the TV screen in the restaurant. A local station, KTLA, was broadcasting that Phil, “a very handsome and lovable German Shepherd”, was up for adoption. Michael and Jackie had recently lost their beloved poodle and were very sad. Michael immediately googled San Gabriel Valley Humane Society, and made an appointment to meet Phil. They also knew it would be a good idea to get a companion for Phil, so they searched the shelter’s Instagram account and also fell in love with Gumbo, the Boxer.
When the couple first met Phil, he was shy and backing away—but Michael recognized he was just a bit fearful. The determined couple gave Phil plenty of time, and he started to warm up a bit. The patient shelter staff agreed to a simultaneous meeting with Gumbo and that did the trick! When Gumbo came in, he immediately started playing with Phil, and a new family was created on the spot!
Now Phil and Gumbo have free reign of a beautiful, spacious, two- acre ranch. The boys love helping Michael feed the horses daily, and at night the whole family sits on the porch together.
Everything wasn’t immediately perfect, and a shoe or two got chewed. One day, Gumbo jumped the fence and Phil ran into the house to let Michael know that something was wrong. Michael followed Phil to the fence where Gumbo was on the other side trying to get back in! Eventually, everything settled down, and Michael and Jackie say they’re so much happier now with Phil and Gumbo in their lives.
Michael and Jackie are grateful to the shelter for a wonderful experience. “They treated these dogs well. You can tell they were loved. People at the shelter were crying when they were adopted,” Michael said. Undoubtedly, those were tears of joy that Phil and Gumbo got their wonderful forever home.