After buying a house, our family of 4 could finally get a dog! We didn't have any idea what we wanted - just that we wanted a companion that would be good with our kids.

We drove 80 miles to a shelter that had recently taken in a bunch of dogs, with a few in mind to see. When we got there, all of the dogs were jumping up and barking - except a brown dog name Duke. He was calm, quiet, and nondescript. That was the first dog we saw.

He didn't jump on the kids, he was cool and collected. They told us he had been at another shelter for over 2 months with no interest, and before that had been a stray. He really wasn't giving us the time of day but I saw something in him!

My 6 year old was the hurdle. He wanted a fluffy dog, which he obviously wasn't. We honestly almost left him there, but the thought of leaving him made my son cry.. so we started the paperwork. He still needed fixed before we could take him home, so we drove back home and did the 160 mile round trip again the next day to get him.

His name was Duke, but our son wanted to name him Lucky... So he became Luke.

I think we are the lucky ones! ❤️