MIDLAND, Texas — Dogs are one of the most lovable animals on the planet.
They get you through the toughest moments of your life.
When you’re feeling sad from a rough day, dogs are there as a shoulder to cry on.
But what about when man's best friend is going through the toughest moment of their life?
Sydney may look like your average happy-go-lucky canine, but her life changed forever just a couple of months ago.
"Sydney was brought into the shelter when her and her owner were involved in a car accident," President of Midland Animal Shelter Adoptables (MASA) Trayce Gearhart said. "And unfortunately her owner was killed instantly in the accident. Luckily, she (Sydney) was not hurt at all. She did have a scratch on her head."
After the accident, Sydney was rescued by MASA, an animal rescue group in Midland. The trauma, however, was evident on the dog.
"When I know an owner has been deceased, I look and see how the dogs handling it," Gearhart said. "Some of the dogs do great. You know, I mean, they're not happy to be at the shelter, but they're not moping around. Sydney was a little bit different. I mean, she was kind of reserved, quiet, she was confused. She was very depressed. And it was just a really sad situation. But I think Sydney knew her owner was not going to come for her for whatever reason."
With her owner now gone in such a tragic way, things unfortunately looked bleak for Sydney.
"We knew nothing about Sydney," Gearhart said. "All we knew was she had an owner, she was six-years-old, and the owner had passed away. So, I really needed to get her assessed by a trainer before I could place her in a home. I just could not just place her in any foster home, and I could not just immediately adopt her out. And then we started the hunt for a trainer."
The search for the trainer was the first stepping stone.
"Cannot say enough about a trainer," Gearhart said. "They know how to assess the dogs. They know how to work with them."
That’s where The Balanced Dog came in. This organization teaches dogs obedience, and in Sydney's case, hope.
"I had gone to the animal shelter for something," owner of The Balanced Dog Anne Sparks said. "And Tracy kind of pointed her (Sydney) out to me. She'd been there at that time for maybe a couple of weeks. And she was struggling. They were trying to do everything they could to help her. After another couple of days, Tracy called me and asked me to do an assessment with Sydney so they could see what kind of home and when they could begin looking for that home that would serve her the best."
So Sydney worked and trained with The Balanced Dog, and after a while had managed to turn into the happy-go-lucky dog she is now.
"And finally, I posted her on my Facebook page that we were looking for a home for her," Sparks said. "When I posted Sydney, I did not post any of the details about how she got where she was because I didn't want somebody to feel sorry for her. And that to be their reason for adopting her."
After multiple families reached out, she found a home: The Urquieta’s.
"Well, we were looking for a smaller dog after losing our dog in March," Laura Urquieta, Sydney's new owner, said. "I was thinking maybe a 25 pound dog, and I kept an eye on the MASA website and/or the Facebook page. And one day I saw her, but we didn't think that we were equipped for her needs. So I kept looking, and a few weeks later, probably about a month later, Ann posted it on her Facebook page."
At that point, the Urquietas, like everyone else who saw Sydney, fell in love with her.
"And so they contacted me," Sparks said. "I knew them because we had trained their other dog, and so I knew they had a great level of commitment to him, so I felt really good about that. I was like, they're not going to take her and in a week say 'okay, sorry, this isn't working out.'"
And it worked out, as 3 months later, Sydney is inseparable from her new family: from the other dog Max, to the kids.
"She’s like pepperoni on the pizza," Laura's son Luca Urquieta said.
"It's been great having Sid Bear with us," Laura's husband Aaron said. "She's actually brought out a lot of playfulness out of our other dog."
"I like the fact when she comes to sleep with me," Luca said. "Because she's always just coming in my room and laying next to me. And she just puts her head on my bed. And then she falls asleep and then I fall asleep."
"She's very crazy," Laura's daughter Emma said. "She runs around, but like when she's drinking a lot she'll slowly back up. And it's really funny because she'll like, look around, and then back like two steps and then she'll look around again."
All this wouldn’t be possible without the rescue by MASA, the training by the Balanced Dog and the eventual perfect match in the home of the Urquieta’s.
"This is how it's supposed to go," Gearhart said. "You know, rescues are not supposed to be in a hurry to get a dog out. It's our job to assess the dog and see to it that it gets the help, that it needs or the family that it needs. That's our job."
"And she's so well behaved and so well trained," Laura said. "Really thanks to Anne for helping her remember those so that we can bring her into our house and fit right in."
"But she's running up to everybody," Gearhart said. "She's happy, she's outgoing, and that's not the dog that I saw at the shelter."
Dogs may seem like they have it all figured out, but they go through things too.
Sometimes they need support reciprocated. And support Sydney got from a multitude of people, it shows that no matter how rock bottom it looks, even for a dog, there’s always a light at the end of the tunnel.
This dog found that light... and has been smiling ever since.
"[We’re] constantly smiling and laughing at the things she does and how she behaves," Laura said. "She makes us laugh all the time."
"Never a dull moment," Aaron said. "Ever."