Man Ready To Return His New Dog Back To Shelter, Finds Out Something Unexpected That Makes Him Cry

love compassion loyalty these are some of the words that come to our heads when we think about dogs dogs are indeed the most friendly and faithful creatures they care for their owners in a way nobody else will and are the most cherished part of their lives bringing a dog into your home acts as a major source of positivity and happiness keeping the same thought in mind anthony decided to adopt a dog to get rid of the loneliness he felt after moving to a new town little did he know the dog he would end up adopting from the shelter will be far from his expectations of a pet it had been six months since anthony moved into his home in the city six months period is not that long except for him it didn't feel that way from the moment he moved here he felt at home the people were incredibly hospitable and no matter what the time of the day was the city never slept despite the friendly neighbors and the lively city anthony had one struggle the feeling of loneliness he was single and living alone had gradually started to take a toll on his mood he decided he wanted some company and what other company could he ask for when the local newspapers were flooded with ads about shelters and animals needing a home it was a bright sunday morning anthony was on his way to an animal shelter eager to adopt a pet he could barely contain his excitement as he spotted the shelter from his car it was a faded great colored building with a rustic fence around it anthony parked his car and reached the reception the moment was finally here anthony was browsing the cages for a while now he knew he wanted a dog but he couldn't decide which one to get they were all adorable but something didn't seem to fit anthony was about to turn around when he spotted a cage at the far end of the aisle as he got closer to the cage he spotted a dog inside anthony kneeled in front of the cage and took a look at the dog inside it he was a black labrador curl up in a corner when the dog's eyes met anthony's he approached him slowly and looked up to him with his beautiful but sad eyes anthony assumed living at the shelter is the reason behind the sadness in the dog's eyes he needed a home to be loved and cared for anthony came to know that the dog's name is reggie he couldn't point out what the reason was but he knew that this is the dog he is meant to take home the shelter was more than happy for reggie apparently a lot of the people were interested in adopting him but for some reason they thought he is not the right fit for them and backed out at the last moment the shelter told anthony that it might take reggie up to two weeks to adjust to his new home so he should be patient with him they packed all of reggie's belongings which included a sleeping bed a food bowl and a bunch of his toys and the duo was on its way home on the drive back home anthony was extra careful with reggie as he seemed to be on edge any sudden movement would make him jump and tremble in fear anthony concluded that the dog might have dealt with abusive experiences which made him this scared and disturbed the only thing that seemed to put reggie at ease was a tennis ball he found among his old things he liked to sink his teeth into it but other than that reggie was not a fan of this car ride away from the shelter anthony was hopeful once they reach home the dog would settle in nicely he could not have been more wrong as anthony pull up in his driveway he realized the dog is becoming restless again he opened his side of the door but reggie didn't make any movement anthony had to carry him inside the house because he was trembling with fear and unable to step inside reggie spent the entire evening trembling in the corner underneath the sofa anthony couldn't understand what he was so scared of he knew this place was unfamiliar for the dog but it seemed like there was something else too which was bothering reggie but he was simply unaware of it anthony decided to buy all brand new things for reggie and hopes that it will bring a fresh start for the dog as staring at the old stuff will only remind reggie of the bad experiences he had anthony decided to put all of his old things in the back of the garage closet because somehow throwing it all away didn't feel right unfortunately the new things made no changes in reggie's behavior he was still a sad afraid little dog who didn't like to be seen anthony was getting concerned by this point he expected a happy addition to his life after adopting a dog but reggie was quite opposite of that he kept to himself and didn't seem to be interested in anything disappointment lingered in anthony's life as his hope of getting rid of loneliness didn't deliver he expected to bring home a happy playful dog who would keep him busy but reggie was quite opposite of that as a result anthony was still lonely and reggie didn't seem happy to him either he kept wondering what he is doing wrong anthony had no idea what to do to get rid of reggie's sadness so he did what he knew how to do he gave him food water shelter all of his attention and took him for walks but reggie didn't seem to care for much his eyes were still sad and he didn't want to go out or eat or do anything he liked to be left alone despite anthony's countless efforts reggie did not show any changes he would rarely follow general instructions like sit or stay that too if he was in the mood to top that he didn't seem to respond to his name either he acted like he was a lost soul who didn't know where he belonged two weeks were now over and anthony had seen no change in reggie he had a feeling this problem runs deeper than he thought the shelter asked him to give him two weeks to adjust and now the time was up anthony's ambition to help the dog had failed he was still in his shell and refused to come out no matter what he did it was time to decide anthony decided to return reggie to the shelter it was a heartbreaking decision because anthony wanted to keep him but he knew that he is unable to help him in the way reggie needs it anthony was still lonely and reggie was still unhappy he figured the shelter will find him a different home the one which will help him in a way anthony couldn't anthony was packing up reggie's things one by one when it occurred to him to pack his old things as well it did belong to the dog after all and he should at least return it to the shelter anthony took heavy steps towards the garage his shoulders slouched in sadness anthony opened the closet and started taking out reggie's items one by one as he picked up the dog bed an envelope fell from it a frown made its way to his forehead he picked up the envelope and scanned it for any address or name but it had none he was not sure if he should open it but it did fall from reggie's bed who can't be interested in its content for sure anthony ripped the envelope open to reveal a letter inside it strangely enough when reggie spotted anthony going through his things he got excited and ran over two men with his tail wagging anthony was surprised at this sudden change of the dog he sat down and began reading the letter it read to whoever gets my dog well i can't say that i'm happy you're reading this a letter i told the shelter could only be opened by reggie's new owner i'm not even happy writing it that's when it clicked anthony remembered the shelter informing him about a letter left for him but he forgot about it until now so this letter as anthony understood was from reggie's previous owner he continued reading if you're reading this it means i just got back from my last car ride with my lap after dropping him off at the shelter when i was packing up his things he knew something was different it's like he could sense that something was wrong so reggie was not abandoned after all his owner was sad to leave him it's sad for me but that is why i have decided to write this letter so let me tell you about my lab in the hopes that it will help you bond with him and he with you the owner wrote first he loves tennis balls and he loves to hoard them he usually always has two in his mouth and he tries to get a third in there too a tiny smile appeared on anthony's face he continued reading it doesn't matter where you throw them he'll jump right after so be careful really don't do it by any roads i nearly made that mistake once the owner spoke highly of how reggie can follow commands and gestures easily he said reggie knows the obvious command sits stay he knows hand signals back to turn around go back when you put your hands straight up and over if you put your hand out right or left shake for shaking the water off and paw for a high five the owner continued he does down when he feels like lying down he knows ball in food and bone and treats like nobody's business i trained reggie with small food treats nothing opens his ears like little pieces of hot dogs so it was clear to anthony that reggie was trained by his previous owner the previous owner also warned anthony about something which didn't come as a surprise he wrote be forewarned reggie doesn't like the vet good luck getting in the car i don't know exactly how he knows when it's time for him to go to the vet but he can somehow sense it the owner suggested how reggie should be showered with lots of attention finally be patient with him i have never been married so it's only been me in his whole life he's used to going everywhere with me so please take him on your daily car rides if you can he loved to be around people especially me which means this transition is going to be hard with him going to live with someone new this letter was slowly helping anthony understanding reggie better his fear his lack of interest his mood to be left alone it all made sense to him he lived with one man his whole life so of course it was difficult for him to live with a new owner anthony was truly surprised by what the letter said next i need to share one more bit of info with you his name is not reggie i don't know what made me do it exactly but when i dropped him off at the shelter i just told him his name was reggie so the dog was not called reggie but why did the owner give a fake name at the shelter he's a clever dog he'll get used to it and will respond eventually but i couldn't bear to give them his real name for me to do that it would feel so final that handing him over was admitting that i'd never see him again anthony realized how painful it must have been for the owner to give away his dog the letter read if i end up coming back and tearing up this letter then everything is fine but if someone else is reading this then his new owner should know his real name it will help you bond with him who knows maybe he'll even notice a change in him if he's been difficult his real name is tank because that's what i drive so the dog's real name was tank anthony could tell by reading this letter that the owner loved tank immensely which is what confused him why did he put the dog up for adoption if they loved each other so much out of all the possible reasons anthony could imagine the truth turned out to be far from his expectations the letter read i told the shelter that they couldn't put my dog up for adoption until they received word from my commander there was no one i could have left tank with it was my only real request of the army upon my deployment to iraq that they make one phone call to the shelter in the event of to tell them tank could be put for adoption anthony found himself getting emotional now this was too depressing he continued reading though well this letter is getting depressing even though i am just writing it for my dog but dogs can be like family and he has been with me for the past six years almost as long as the army has been my family that unconditional love from a dog is what i took with me to iraq as an inspiration to do something selfless to protect innocent people from those who would do terrible things if i had to give up tank to do it i'm glad to have done so he was my example of service and love i hope i honored him by my service to my country and comrades anthony's eyes were blurry now he didn't even realize when his eyes welled up the owner thanked anthony for taking care of his dog i have to drop this letter at the shelter now i don't think i can bear another goodbye to tank though i cried so much the first time maybe i'll peek in on him and see if he finally managed to get that third tennis ball in his mouth good luck with tank give him a good home and give him an extra kiss good night every night for me thank you paul mallory the name paul mallory ringed a bell in anthony's head he had heard this name when he first moved into the city he was known to be a hero amongst the people who lived here unfortunately he passed away during his deployment in iraq he was on a mission to save three team members later on he was rewarded with a silver star for his noble endeavors anthony was completely sobbing by this point the letter was so saddening he needed time to gather himself now every time he looked at the dog he remembered paul and how much he loved tank he knew he can't send tank back to the shelter the poor thing had already lost a home anthony called out to the dog hey tank the dog's eyes immediately opened and he came running towards anthony he couldn't believe his eyes it felt like calling him by his name was all it took to remind him of who he is tank didn't feel lost anymore and took notice of his new owner anthony pettitted in lovingly things would never be the same for either of them from now on anthony knew he can't return ten to the shelter not after knowing his story he wanted to honor paul's wish and love and care for tank just like he used to i can only hope and pray that you make him part of your family and that he will adapt and come to love you the same way he loved me anthony will remember these words forever soon enough anthony earned tanks trust tank felt safe around him and was more than happy to play ball with him accompany him on his car rides and just be the normal happy ball of sunshine he always had been anthony would even let him roam free in the park because he knew tank will come back to him anthony knew paul was watching over tank and would be extremely proud and happy of his progress tank was back to his normal playful self he was no longer the scared puppy hiding in the corner of a room with sad eyes he was happy again and anthony hit paul to thank for it he admired the love he had for his dog and promise to love tank the same