Look Who’s Adopted

Teko's Story -- A Tale of Love and Commitment to an Adopted Pet

Written By: Teko's Mom

  Teko was my soul dog. I adopted him from you in 2016, and then again just days after returning him in 2017. After he bit my husband and drew blood, I made the heartbreaking decision to bring him back to your care. I was devastated. I sobbed as I let him go, but I couldn’t rest with my decision. After speaking with my veterinary team, who educated me about ways to manage his behavior, I called Pawmetto Lifeline and did everything I could to bring him home again. You said yes.

He came back to us, and from that day on, I made a promise to him: I would never leave him again. He chose me, and I would keep choosing him, no matter what.

Later, he began starring at walls and floors. We learned from a canine neurologist that Teko had canine cognitive dysfunction (dementia/Alzheimer’s). His aggression never fully went away, but we built our world around what he needed, minimizing his triggers, keeping a calm and predictable routine, finding fear-free veterinary care, and doing everything we could to keep him safe, supported, and loved.

As the years went on, Teko’s health steeply declined within the past year. He began losing his eyesight and sense of direction. He would walk into walls, struggle to find his treats even when we would hold it at his nose, and eventually spent most of his day sleeping. The aggression returned with more frequency, even toward me. We tried medication, consulted vets, and reached out to you and the original shelter to gather any medical records that might help us find one more answer.

But in the end, it became clear that he was hanging on for me and only for me.

On May 16, 2025, with his head in my hands and surrounded by love, Teko crossed the rainbow bridge. We spent the days before his passing giving him the gentlest moments we could. Those days will remain the most painful of my life so far.

Teko was with me through every season of adulthood: from my early twenties as a single woman, through marriage, a cross-country move from Georgia to Maryland after my husband’s medical military retirement, and into the final trimester of my first pregnancy. Our daughter is due this August, the same month Teko would have turned 16.

There are no words for how much I miss him. While we share our home with another Pawmetto Lifeline rescue and a standard poodle, the absence of his 10-pound presence is larger than I ever imagined.

Teko was not an easy dog, but he was the greatest gift I’ve ever received. Loving him and being loved by him taught me the truest meaning of unconditional love: not the perfect kind, but the kind that is consistent, patient, and fiercely devoted.

Before his cognitive decline made him unpredictably aggressive, Teko was an incredibly gentle and emotionally intuitive companion. I was an opera singer, and I taught private voice lessons in between performances. Teko would snuggle with each of my students, offering quiet comfort as they came in and opened up about the difficulties of their day. He had an extraordinary way of sensing emotion — of knowing when someone needed stillness, or softness, or simply to be seen.

Like so many Yorkies, he chose his one person—and that person was me. I still remember so clearly the first time we saw each other through the gate at Pawmetto. There was something instant and unspoken between us. How I wish I could look into his eyes again, just once more, and share that same loving gaze.

Thank you for making our life together possible. Thank you for trusting me, twice, to love him through all his complexities. He was the biggest blessing of my life.

In his honor, we intend to make a donation to Pawmetto Lifeline on his birthday this August to help another animal waiting for their second chance. It feels like the most fitting way to celebrate the life he lived and the love he gave so freely.

I’ve attached a few of my most meaningful memories with him. I hope, on the hard days, you’ll remember that your work mattered, that it still matters, because of dogs like Teko and people like me who were forever changed by the bond we shared.