Ben came to A Place for Paws over nine years ago after being rescued from the pound in Medina. He found his forever home quickly from Paws because of his cheerful and friendly personality. He has been a fixture and leader at our Daycare since that time. This year, Ben is surviving major surgery due to cancer.

Ben first came to Paws, at about two, for remedial training. His new mother had adopted him from the Medina pound and apparently the reason he was there was because of his fondness of taking an extended walk occasionally. Clearly his new Mom, Vera, needed help teaching Ben to come when called so she could slow him down when he decided to go for one of his walks. Vera was an older lady who really needed a lot of help with Ben in all of the basic areas.

In a short time of working with Vera and Ben, it became apparent that Vera would not be able to keep Ben due to many factors in her life. She asked if we at Paws could take care of Ben and find him a new home. As we were quite fond of Ben and he was such a great dog, we decided to take him. Many people who came through the door in the first couple of days wanted Ben but one very special family came to pick up a friend's dog and they knew they would not be able to live without this incredible dog.

Ben went to live with Sandy and Kirby and never looked back - actually he never had to because he came to daycare every single day - so he had his wonderful forever home and his kingdom at A Place for Paws. Ben ruled the daycare for years with very little noise. He simply walked through and all (people and dogs) understood his royal position. Every once in a while, if a small scuffle started, Ben was instantly at hand to explain the house rules.

At home with Sandy and Kirby, Ben had a delightful sister, Sydney, who was occasionally allowed to join him at Daycare and bunch of kitties to keep him company. For some time, Sandy even took Ben to see his old friend Vera and he thoroughly enjoyed those visits. Occasionally, Ben even found time for one of his extended walks.

Last year, we all had some devastating news, our dear Ben had cancer in his chest. It was massive and invasive and the prognosis may not be good. But Sandy and Kirby believed that Ben had a lot more life in him so they decided to proceed with surgery and its aftermath to give our friend as much time as possible.

Today, Ben is doing remarkably well. He comes in to Paws and patrols the yard every morning, he spends his day alternately watching over the younger folks, continuing his patrol or doing what he now enjoys a lot - sleeping. He has a set routine and doesn't appreciate it when his family is late to pick him up. But when they finally get there, watch out, he gets all excited like the puppy we never knew and he hops around and bounces from his front legs to his hind legs.

Ben can't hear to well (so if you hear us yell at him, it's nothing personal) and he can't see too well either but he is still the old wonderful friend that we were blessed to meet almost ten years ago. Paws would not have been the same if Ben had never been a part of us!

We all love you, Benjamin!