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Crystal Lynn was born sometime in the early spring of 1999. I adopted her at an event at a local Petco. Animal Control had picked her up a few weeks before running with a pack of large dogs.

Crystal had always been a very aloof, taking control, kind of dog. She walked into our house wanting to be the “top dog.” When I brought her home and introduced her to our other three dogs - two female American Eskimos and one male lab - she ignored the other females and was immediately attached to our black lab, Jake James. They would spend hours playing and wrestling with each other, best of buds.

PHOTO: LINDA INGLE

Jake became ill with bone cancer in February of 2004. He passed away in April of that year. Crystal mourned the loss of her best friend. Weeks later, we noticed sores coming out on her face and mouth and took her to the vet. The vet’s first reaction was that she may have gotten into rat poisoning. He gave her some medicine and Vitamin K to counteract the poison. After a week, he referred us to a specialist. Their diagnosis was that her immune system was attacking her body, due to traumatic stress. We knew exactly what was happening — she had lost her best friend. After months of medication, she pulled through the illness and lived 10 more years.

Crystal Lynn has been the joy of our lives. However, today we had to make the heart-wrenching decision to let her go and put our selfishness aside. The second thoughts questioning if we did the right thing will haunt us for years. Although the tears are flowing today, our beloved baby will forever be in our hearts, along with the laughter, cherished memories and love she brought into our lives. I was thinking today that I hope she would find her true friend that she never really got to say goodbye to. I will envision Crystal Lynn and Jake James running together playing, just like they did when they first came into our lives.

DOG. PHOTO: PIXABAY/INA HOEKSTRA

Story submitted by Linda Ingle from Rosenberg, Texas. Crystal's story was originally shared on The Animal Rescue Site. Share your very own rescue story here!