Heartwarming tale of a man consoled by a shelter puppy during his mother’s passing and their miraculous reunion 7 years later via Pittsburgh community, says: ‘I think we were destined to spend time with each other during the worst week of my life.’

Author image for Laurent Shinar
Laurent Shinar • Writer and Editor
Jan 23, 2026 3:00 PM EST

We don't often think about how dogs can help us in our most trying times of need, but time again they've proven their competence in doing so. And this story tells the tale of a dog who helped a hooman so deeply that seven years later the hooman had to seek out the pupper to recognize the impact he had on his life.


Not every shelter dog needs to be rescued to have their life improved. Just as not every hooman has a home and life that is befitting of a dog joining it. And in the case of this story that is exactly the way things shaked out. A man visiting from out of town, who suddenly lost his mother was grief stricken and felt that spending some time with a doggo would be the thing that could help him heal, if only a little. With the help of a local shelter he was paired with a pupper and given as much time as he and the pupper needed to heal.

Over the course of multiple meetings, several hours in length, they bonded deeply and gave one and other the love and attention they both needed at that time. But when all was said and done the man could not cross borders with this pup and had to return him to the shelter. In the process showing that this doggo was a truly precious soul and allowing this puppy to be shown what true love is. Seven years later, when this story starts, the man had healed enough to try and reach out to find out about the fate of the puppy that saved him. This is their story. 

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    "I have his picture hung up in my living room."
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    I know this is a long shot but in the words of Wayne Gretzky, "You Miss 100% of The Shots You Don't Take". I've literally wanted to make this post for years and couldn't bring myself to do so until now.
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    I'll explain the story behind my question.. In April 2019, my mom and I were visiting Western Pennsylvania from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. We booked a motel in Canonsburg as it was a nice halfway
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    point between 2 places we'd be spending time. The only international trip I ever got to take with my late grandmother was to Wheeling Island in West Virginia so my mom and I were going to go watch the greyhound
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    races. The primary reason for the trip was to see Cher perform at PPG Paints Arena and to check another MLB stadium off our list (my mom was a HUGE Toronto Blue Jays fan and she
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    raised me to be one as well). About 12 hours after arriving in Canonsburg, my mom went into st and never woke up again. After she was stabilized at Canonsburg HI, she was
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    Cheezburger Image 10598811136
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    transferred to West Penn H | where shead in the a few days later on Easter Sunday. While my mom was in the J, the staff asked me what I needed and I said, "A dog". They didn't have emotional
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    support animals who came to the ho, al. The hol made some calls to other local mal facilities and were unsuccessful. I went on Google and did my own research. The first animal shelter |
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  • Wow, this is honestly the point of the story that most caused us shock when reading for the first time. On a couple of counts. First being that this man was so intune with his own needs and wants that he could so concretely say that the thing that would help him feel better is a dog. Then the fact that he was so in need of this support that he went and did his own research on the subject. Not forgetting of course the hospital’s support in all this. Heck even their awareness of other medical facilities that did have canine cuddlers on hand to help people. It is truly a wholesome and heartwarming approach to support.

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    called said they were too busy to accommodate me. I called ASAP Rescue inside Petland on Penn Avenue (which is a 10-minute drive from West Penn), I explained my situation and they told me I could
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    Cheezburger Image 10598810880
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    come over and spend as much time as I wanted. When I got to ASAP, they asked me which dog I wanted to hang with and I said, "I'm going to have to play Gwhen I remove my mom from li ɔrt in
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    a couple of days. I don't want to choose which of your dogs gets my love." They brought out Julian for me who I believe was 5- months old at the time and is half boxer-half pit bull. I spent about 4 hours with him on Good
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  • Honestly, we are floored. This is just amazing. What a strong willed man, and a kind hearted one at that. He knew when he stepped through those shelter doors that they were aware of his pain and likely knew a pupper who had been feeling a similar way. Similarly devoid of hope and attention and love. Similarly in need of as much of it as possible as fast as possible. And in those four precious hours they spent together they must have both been so deeply filled with the love they were missing. 

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    Friday 2019 and another couple of hours on Easter Monday 2019 while my mom was being d. I would have loved to adopt Julian but it would have been too overwhelming with the pending
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    Cheezburger Image 10598811392
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    loss of my mom. Not to mention, bringing a dog across the international border would have required some special paperwork. It's been 6.5 years since I got to hang with Julian during the worst week of
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    my life. I never would have imagined that when I crossed the border into the U.S. with my mom in the passenger seat, that a week later I'd be crossing back into Canada with the urn containing her ashes on the passenger
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    seat. With the Blue Jays headed to the post- season (sorry Pirates fans), my grief is really strong again as I wish my mom was physically here to see it. I can hear her clapping and cheering and
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    truthfully I've felt her spirit with me the past couple of days. When I think about what brings my comfort when I'm feeling really emotional about my mom, I think about the time I got to spend with Julian.
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    Cheezburger Image 10598810624
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    Julian would be almost 7 years old today. I have his picture hung up in my living room. I hope he was adopted to a good home and has had a good life.
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    I live in Calgary now so I'm not looking to visit him or FaceTime with him, but I do have a few questions. If you adopted Julian and are reading this I'm curious to know if you changed his name, how big he got, if he's done OK,
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    his temperament, and if he's given you the same love that he gave to me. I also want Julian's owner to know what he did for me, I still think about him often, and I'll never forget him.
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    Whenever I talk about my mom passing away in Pittsburgh, I always show a picture of Julian because he's such an important part of the story.
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    I'm Gunther's dad! He's been an absolutely wonderful dog, the best you could ask for! He's grown to about 60 pounds, and is a bit anxious and shy around new people,
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    but once he gets to know you he's the most loving dog there is! He's the biggest, best cuddler imaginable and is so careful and thoughtful about arranging his paws so he's never kicks you, and his mom and I always make
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    sure he gets his time cuddling smushed between us every night and every morning. He has three cat siblings and he gets along with them well (sometimes he even gets kisses from them and gets to
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    cuddle with them too!). If any of the cats are in in his way at all, he'll sit and wait for them to move instead of barrelling past them. But if he hears them fighting, he'll sprint over there to make sure they play nice!
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    It's so great to see your post and to see the impact he's had on other people and how amazing he was even before we got him!
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    RON
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    OOP: OH MY GOODNESS... ......I'M SPEECHLESS. I'm bawling my eyes out. I can't believe you saw my post. And I love the name
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    I want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for helping me to connect with Julian's a.k.a. Gunther's human. Gunther filled a hole that I didn't realize needed filling. Spending time with
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    him both before and after my mom's dh made it easier for me to cope. While the IJ Team at West Penn He was also taking care of me by ensuring I was eating and comfortable, Gunther took care of
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    me in a different way. When ASAP Rescue told me Gunther was a puppy, I thought he'd be super hyper which I wouldn't have minded; I could have used the distraction. While I
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    saw him being hyper around other dogs, he was super calm and gentle with me. He wouldn't even play with his toys around me. He didn't take his eyes off of me when we were together. When I gave him treats, he didn't even
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    give me puppy nibbles. When I was crying, he'd paw at me and give me a little lick. I held him like a baby and he fell asleep in my arms, which ASAP said they'd never seen him do before. They said around
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    me, he was the calmest they'd ever seen him. I remember saying to somebody at ASAP, "I really needed him" and they replied, "And he really needed you." They
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    said it was nice he was able to get some extra TLC and attention.
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man console pittsburgh steelers heartwarming puppy mother reunion miracle passing reddit story community years dog story shelter dogs
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