Oliver, his eight siblings, and their mama were Hurricane Harvey evacuees. All nine puppies had parvovirus, so thank goodness they were brought to Austin and given a chance at life.

I saw Oliver (then known as Target) when I was browsing the APA! website at work, as I’d done many times in the past. I immediately fell in love with his little bug eyes and split face. He was listed as a mix of boxer, golden retriever, and black Labrador mix: the three breeds that I have always loved.

I had recently gone through a lot of life changes, and I had every excuse in the world not to get a dog, but I reached out for additional information anyway. He was in a foster home less than a mile away from my office, so I popped over to meet him on my lunch break. The minute I saw his wiggly little body and his smile, I knew. He was climbing all over me, and he was the most hyper baby I had ever seen, but I knew. I filled out the application, and three days later, I became a mom.

He was only three months old when I adopted him, so we shared months of sleepless nights, potty training, kennel training, teething, and all of the snuggles. I remember looking at Oliver two days after bringing him home and thinking, "Well, this must be what it feels like to become a parent." He had a lot of quirks, but I realized very quickly that he thrives on routines and structure, so over the last year and a half, we have learned to encourage good behavior by making it routine.

I went into this thinking it would be fun to have a cute, cuddly puppy at home. I had no clue how much this little guy would change my world, and I tell him daily how thankful I feel that I get to be his mama. He has taught me the obvious lessons of patience and unconditional love, but I had no idea how valuable it would be to have somebody who depends on me wholeheartedly and trusts me with everything he has. I’ve grown so much as I’ve learned to think about someone other than myself and to adjust my own routines according to what’s best for him. I was so not prepared for what this journey would look like, but have learned that we are never truly ready for most things in life. We just have to trust each other to figure it out along the way.