Timmy

Timmy now lives in San Jose, California
We began our journey in September of 2017, searching for our furr-ever dog. I was not prepared for how competitive the rescue dog market was. After months of trying to adopt, we decided to consider dogs with special needs. Enter Timmy. Timmy was a 3-year old terrier mix from Iran with a broken back. He had back surgery in Iran, which saved his life, but was feared that he wouldn’t be adoptable if he remained in Iran due to some mobility issues. Farah at OPR (our “Fairy Dog-Mother”) got him to the US, where it was believed he’d have better chances of adoption. And with perfect timing that coincided with our search. We met Timmy, instantly fell in love with him and on March 21, 2018, he became a member of our family.

I expected that adding a dog to the family might take time to adjust, for both our family and for Timmy. But it wasn’t as significant as I had thought, he seemed to fit in like he’d been with us since the beginning. What I didn’t expect though was how Timmy brought our family together at a time when our kids are getting older (11 and 16 at the time) and not spending as much time together as a family. I also didn’t expect how much empathy the kids would have for Timmy and his condition. They knew he wasn’t going to be a typical dog, not able to jump, climb stairs easily, would need to be lifted into the car, but the compassion that they have given him overwhelms me. Taking Timmy on a walk requires putting a shoe on him to protect his foot that he drags, but everyone knows how important it is for him to wear the protection that no one considers skipping this step. Despite not knowing exactly what Timmy’s past was, they know it probably wasn’t great and wants to make sure that he has the best life possible moving forward. We can not imagine our life without Timmy and feel so lucky to have him in our lives.

— Kim Ocumen and family