MOUNTAIN HOME, Idaho — Anyone involved with an animal rescue will tell you they see their share of happy endings and heartbreak, but when one happy ending turns into two out of the same story, it needs to be shared.
Lake Lowell Animal Rescue takes in more animals than most rescues can handle, and sometimes, animals they're not necessarily prepared for.
"When he arrived, he was maybe a little worse off than we were expecting and definitely not quite as friendly as advertised. He was very aggressive, which was a surprise and not something normally that we would take on," said Lake Lowell Animal Rescue Director Melissa Blackmer.
This is Osiris, a three-year old Husky mix who had been chained up most of his life, was unkempt, and completely blind from extremely painful glaucoma. Melissa knew turning his life around would be a daunting challenge.
"I didn't want to send him back. He was clearly in a lot of pain and I decided we were gonna take a risk," said Blackmer.
It was a journey that took a lot of time, resources, and patience.
"I knew that there probably wasn't a lot of other good options. Especially for a dog with that temperament, and I was really hoping that in there was a really nice dog that once we got him the medical care that he needed, we would be able to help him," said Blackmer.
After several medical procedures, months of training and rehab, and befriending a two-year old pit/Boston Terrier mix named Ledger, they started to see a different dog.
"He really made a 180 with all of us that he knew, he was really friendly and playful," said Blackmer.
But despite that, Osiris was still considered "unadoptable" by most standards, and spent nearly a year at the rescue. And when hope seemed to be lost, they received a message from Carla Hoffman, a Mountain Home resident who's longtime puppy partner had just passed away a few months ago and was ready to let a new pup in.
"When I reached out to Melissa, it was for a different dog that was no longer available. And she said oh that dog's not available but I do have a bunch of others. And I said, well what's your most unadoptable dog? So she starts with Osiris and explains about him, and she had so much passion for this little guy. So I drove out to meet him that night, I live about an hour and a half away, and he was muzzled and it was a little scary. I went back the next night and the next night and the next night and we did five days of him getting used to me, and we thought this might be a great fit," said Mountain Home resident Carla Hoffman.
Osiris wasn't the friendliest with most strangers, but sensed something different with Carla.
"He sat on my feet and asked me to pet him the first day that I met him, and I just wanted to see if he would trust me, and that's why I went back the second night. And the second night I knew I wanted to make this work," said Hoffman.
Within two weeks of getting to know each other and changing up everything in her house to accommodate a blind dog with a ton of special needs, Osiris, now known as Ocean, was the newest part of the Hoffman family.
"The second day, he was just at ease. He rolled over on his back, he slept, he snored, and I just thought yeah, he feels safe," said Hoffman.
Though the story could end with that happy ending, Carla knew more could be done to help, and asked about Ledger, Ocean's best friend and guide dog back at the rescue.
"They're kind of an odd couple, but of all the dogs that Ocean had met, Ledger was his favorite. And they did just kind of make an odd little bond," said Blackmer.
And despite his own medical and social issues, within a week, Ledger officially became Ocean's brother.
"Carla was thinking so much about the dogs and what would make them most comfortable and having two dogs together that could help Ocean navigate the world, she was the one who thought about that," said Blackmer.
From the decision to take in Ocean nearly a year ago by Lake Lowell Animal Shelter, to finding a forever home for two of their most challenged souls, there have been no regrets by any of the kind-hearted individuals involved.
"It's not just, you know, like a puppy with a bow on it and they just live happily ever after, they had just been uprooted for everything they had known for, I wanna say Osiris was there for eight months and Ledger was there for six or seven, and that was the happiest part of their lives they had probably experienced, and then they just got thrown into a new environment. So yeah, it was rocky, and it was really really hard, and it just gets better every day," smiled Hoffman.
Though this story had a beautiful ending, there are so many similar situations that are looking for their own happy endings. If you'd like to help play a part in it, head to lakelowellanimalrescue.org for more information.