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In 2003, my husband and I had just moved to Michigan, and he expressed the desire to get a dog. We saw an ad in the paper for a "free dog to a good home". We went to check on the dog and found a beautiful black lab mix named Jessie.

She was 2 years old and had lived her entire life in an outdoor pen because they didn't believe in dogs in the house.

They said they wanted to get more cats so they had to get rid of Jessie. We were charmed with how sweet she was and agreed to take her. It was obvious when we got her home that she had never lived in a house before.

It took almost 2 years before she would get up on any furniture. She now has her own love seat that she loves to sleep on. However, we almost lost her a few weeks after bringing her home because it turned out she was heartworm positive and it was a bad case.

It became apparent why they wanted to get rid of her, she was sick. There was no question that we would try to take care of this. We joke that our "free" dog immediately cost us $500, but it was the best money ever spent and except for getting winded easily, she made a full recovery.

Jessie is the most loving dog and mothers all of our other fur-babies. We can only imagine what she went through the first two years of her life (she is terrified of 4-wheelers), but the love she has given us for the last 12 years has been immeasurable. Jessie takes joy in so many things: she loves playing in the snow (she will just stand outside and come back in covered in snow), snuggling in the recliner with her daddy, and playing with our other dog, Tuxie.

Jessie now has a frosty face, and we joke that she is trying to become a white lab. She is our sweetheart, and we are so glad she came to join our lives.

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Story submitted by Deb Henderson from Benton Harbor, MI.

This story was originally shared on The Animal Rescue Site. Share your very own rescue story here!