Today is the fifth anniversary of the day we brought Rosie home from the pound.

I had been looking for a new sister or brother for Emmy. Emmy was bored and was letting me hear about it. She’d walk around the house, give me this, “Mom.” look, and then do her frustrated sighs. I guess I wasn’t interesting enough.

I knew I wanted a large dog, but I was waiting for the right one. I decided to start checking the at risk dog listings. One day, while scrolling through Facebook, I found sweet little Rosie.

A rottweiler, no one really wanted Rosie, and she was sad and lonely. The description stated that she was very sweet, but very shy.

My roommate and I decided to visit Rosie and see if she’d be a good fit with Emmy. When we met Rosie at her cage, she went crazy and started snapping and barking. I put my hand against the chain link fence and she calmed down. She was just scared and didn’t know what was going on. A stray, she weighed just 35 pounds and was incredibly afraid.

We took her into a play area and she and Emmy got along great. Rosie was playful and happy. I decided to adopt her, four hours before she was scheduled to be put down. I thought that even if she didn’t work out in our family, at least I’d be saving her from death. Of course, the moment we brought her home it was clear she belonged with us.

Starved for attention, Rosie would follow us around and snuggle at every opportunity. She was, and is, incredibly loving and kind. Her and Emmy figured out their relationship and now really are just like sisters.

It’s so hard to believe that five years ago we were meeting our little Rose for the first time. I couldn’t imagine our lives without her silliness.

Rosie has been the perfect addition to our family and has brought us so much joy and love. She’s a solid 70 pounds now and a complete Daddy’s Girl. She’ll lay on his chest, look into his eyes, and smile. A big cheeky grin with very stinky breath. We love her so much, especially Emmy. Adopting Rose was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.