akayla faith

Akayla Faith 

 

 

We have been together since August 28th 2009; the day I adopted her from the Oregon Humane Society.  I have always loved dogs, and I used to go visit the Humane Society just to look at them and wish I could have one again someday.  One day I was down there and I was looking through all the kennels, not anymore serious about taking one home with me then I was before and I saw Akayla in the second set of kennels and I just knew that she was supposed to be my dog. 

I was living at a place where the landlords had previously told me I couldn't have a dog, so I tried to be sneaky and have a friend pretend to be my landlord.  I even asked my dad who told me I didn't need a dog (now guess who loves Akayla as if she were his own and has given him more nicknames than I have.)  I ended up just giving in and calling my landlord, ready to beg and plead and argue my way to victory; the conversation was pretty short though, he just said yes, as if there had never been a problem with dogs in the first place.  I was so overjoyed I went to pick her up right away. 
The Humane Society told me many things about Akayla, and she proved most of them wrong.  She is not a cat-killer; on the contrary her best friend is my big, dumb, Maine Coon, Andrew.  She wants to be friends with every cat she sees.  The cats don't see it that way, but you can see in her eyes that she wouldn't ever hurt them.  It's been so long since I have read her paper work.  But I remember reading it about a year and a half ago when I moved back home with my dad and the things they wrote about her (by her previous owner I assumed) made me laugh.  She was not the terrorist that they had made her out to be.  She was misunderstood and obviously paired up with a human that was not meant to be her human.  I am at least Akayla's third owner, and I don't understand how anyone could have bared to part with her.  I know that I will be fighting it and a terrible mess the day I have to say goodbye to her.  But for right now I just want to make sure she has the best life possible.  And I think that is exactly what I have given her. 

The first night I brought her home I was pretty sure I had made a mistake.  She jumped out the window and chased a cat in the mere thirty minutes I had run down the street to say hello to my friend for his birthday.  I had a little bit of a struggle with her at first because she had really bad separation anxiety.  I was frustrated at first, but the more we bonded to each other the better I understood her.  It became hard for me to leave her too.  I have had severe depression for about 4 or 5 years now and I didn't realize the impact she was making in my life at that time.
Through the years she has become an extraordinary dog.  She is getting a little older now, but she doesn't seem to realize it yet.  I can see the signs of aging starting to effect her body, but it's not touching her spirit in the least.  Akayla gives me hope, and she keeps me in check, and she is a comfort to me that I can't find anywhere else right now. 
I'm so thankful to have my dog.  I really can't decide who saved who; all I know is that we are meant to be together.