11/14/2025
🥹🐾❤️
While shopping at Walmart one afternoon, I noticed a woman quietly following me and my dog, Juno. He’s a ten-year-old GS wearing his service vest—just a regular grocery trip for us. But she kept her distance, watching us from aisle to aisle. It didn’t feel threatening, just deeply sad. 🐶😇
When we reached the parking lot, she finally came over.
Her voice trembled as she asked, “I’m sorry to bother you… but is his name Juno?”
Instantly, my guard went up. “How do you know that?” I asked.
And then, right there by the shopping carts, she started crying.
“I was his puppy raiser,” she said through tears. “I took care of him from eight weeks old until eighteen months, then sent him off for guide dog training. That was nine years ago. I’ve thought about him every single day.”
She showed me photos on her phone—baby Juno with the same curious eyes, and a final picture of her holding him, both of them crying the day she had to let him go.
“They told me he didn’t finish guide dog training,” she continued, smiling softly through tears. “Said he was too friendly. I always wondered where he ended up.” Her gaze fell on his vest. “What does he do now?”
“Diabetic alert,” I told her. “He’s saved my life sixteen times.”
I hadn’t planned to say the number, but it came out naturally.
She covered her mouth, sobbing again. “That makes sense,” she said. “Even as a puppy, he knew when something was wrong. He’d bring me my phone if my medication alarm went off. No one taught him—he just knew.”
We talked for twenty minutes. She told me stories only someone who truly loved him could remember—how he used to steal socks, run from the vacuum, and sleep upside down with his paws in the air.
Before leaving, she knelt down. Juno walked right over, wagging his tail, and rested his head on her shoulder as if no time had passed at all.
“Thank you for keeping him safe,” she whispered to him. Then she looked at me. “And thank you for letting me see that he’s exactly where he was meant to be.”
Now, I send her a photo of Juno every week.
And yes, he still sleeps on his back with his legs in the air.
For everyone who’s ever fostered, raised, or loved a dog they couldn’t keep—know this: they never forget you. You live in their hearts forever. ❤️🐶🐶
