‘It Gives Us Such a Sense of Purpose’

The Dunnivan family never expected to say goodbye to their beloved Labrador and welcome a 10-week-old puppy into their home—all within a matter of hours.

But when that’s what happened, Lisa Dunnivan had to believe things were happening just as they were meant to.

After applying—and being accepted—as a foster family, the Dunnivans, who requested to foster a puppy, figured they’d have to wait awhile. Leashes of Valor already had foster homes for its two newest puppies.

Unbeknownst to her and us at the time, we ended up with a third puppy. As Lisa absorbed the news that their dog, Hudson, wouldn’t be coming home, she got a call about our fluffy new addition.

“It was such an amazing moment. We were totally grief-stricken over Hudson. We still are. I’ve never had the emotion of such grief and also excitement. It was really quite beautiful. That puppy was our hero from the beginning,” Lisa says. “I’ve fostered a lot of puppies before, but it’s a different experience training him and thinking about the veteran he is going to. Everything we are doing is so he can help a veteran some day. It gives us such a sense of purpose.”