Animals can teach us such valuable lessons about how important it is to accept ourselves as we are, to find happiness by adjusting to our circumstances, no matter how hard that may seem.
Rex, a one-year-old Labrador mix, perfectly embodies this concept. He was born last year in Houston with severely deformed front legs and was left at a shelter when he was just a month old. Like so many other shelters around the country, it was already overflowing with animals that needed homes ASAP.
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Because of his disability, they knew his chances of being adopted were virtually nonexistent. Thankfully, a foster family stepped up and took him in after hearing about him from Lola’s Lucky Day. This rescue group takes adoptable dogs from shelters in Houston to Wisconsin, where they have a better chance of finding their forever homes.
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In the spring, he made his way north to Wisconsin, where he eventually landed with another family, the Burdens. His lust for life was evident from the very start, and he won over their hearts during the following months as he swam, played, and did all the other things puppies his age do, just with two legs instead of four.
He enjoys a little dip in the pool every now and then…
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He’s independent, happy napping alone…
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Or with one of his siblings by his side…
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He’s curious, and will stretch up to see if anyone’s left anything tasty on the kitchen counter…
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In fact, perhaps Rex’s disability is simply in the eye of the beholder.
Since he’s been with his arms like that since birth, he knows nothing else and he doesn’t have any sympathy at all for himself. He wants to get somewhere, he gets there, he adjusts, adapts and smiles the whole time.
Never overlook the dogs that seem less than perfect. Sometimes they can be the most perfect of them all.
So what started out as a foster home has since become his permanent residence, and his new mom, JoLynn, couldn’t have asked for a better addition to the family!
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Click on the video below and you can watch this little love bug enjoy life to the fullest (and get around on his new set of wheels), one that would be out of reach to him and others like him if not for the kindness of people like JoLynn.
Share if you agree with her, that sometimes the ones who appear less than perfect “can be the most perfect of them all.”
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