My little family was complete on Aug. 12, 2017, when my husband came home with Yara.

Yara was the spunky, pot-bellied puppy that made our lives complete. She loved our other dog, Apollo, and she loved everyone that walked in our apartment.

Having her made our lives perfect.

When I scroll through my phone, all I see are pictures of her cuddling with Apollo or napping with my husband. She was the happiest little girl, and when I got home I could always hear her paws padding down the hallway to come see me.

Unfortunately, we had to say goodbye on Wednesday.

Shortly after getting Yara, we noticed something was wrong. After months of doctors’ appointments, medications, surgeries and tests we finally had an answer.

Our sweet girl had a multitude of problems, most of them being neurological. Thankfully, according to our veterinarians, she had problems but was otherwise healthy. There was no reason why shouldn’t be able to enjoy a few good years with her.

Despite all of our best efforts, her problems were getting bad much faster than we anticipated, and it was obvious she was miserable.

Rather than wait until she had no good days left in her, my husband and I made the decision to let her go.

We wrapped Yara up in her favorite blanket with her favorite bone, sat in a very peach-colored room and gave her all the love in the world.

Having her, even for a short time, was the most fulfilling experience. Every animal deserves love and affection, and every animal deserves to have someone willing to do everything in their power to give them the best life.

There would have been some people that would have given her up the minute they found out something was wrong, but Andrew and I wouldn’t do that.

I didn’t technically adopt either of my puppies. We found them on Craigslist, but the sentiment remains the same. Adopt the dogs that need your love the most. Adopt the ones that wouldn’t normally get picked because they aren’t the prettiest or the most intelligent.

Puppies want to love unconditionally, and they will if you give them the chance.