A rescue dog could not contain her excitement when she had a surprise reunion with her sibling, who she had not seen since the pair were in a shelter together.
The reunion for one-year-old pooch Aspen happened by complete chance, when a friend of her owner, Zack Goldwasser, happened to decipher that she was meeting Aspen’s sibling at a dog park away from their neighborhood.
Aspen, a husky-shepherd-pitbull mix, was found with her mother and three siblings in the backyard of a home, after the owners had been evicted.
The dogs came under the care of UFAR Animal Rescue in Margate, Florida, and when Zack visited the shelter with his sister-in-law and niece, he built an immediate bond with Aspen, who, at the time, was named Mimosa.
On the drive home, Zack said his niece spotted that he looked sad, given that he had been trying to be responsible and not jump into an adoption.
Zack, however, later took this as a positive sign, and the following day, he headed back to the shelter and adopted Aspen.
Over the months that followed, Aspen formed a friendship with a dog who lives near Zack, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and with the pooches playing daily, Zack often speaks to the dog’s owner, Emily.
It was Emily who then visited her sister in Boca, where her dog started playing with a puppy who looked similar to Aspen.
At that point, she started talking to the owner and, knowing that Aspen – formerly Mimosa – and her siblings had been given drinks names at the shelter, asked what the dog used to be called.
When the owner said Tequila, Emily knew that it must be Aspen’s sibling, and so she passed the information to Zack, who arranged a surprise play date between the pair.
On April 4th at Canine Cove Dog Park in Boca Raton, Florida, the Aspen and her sibling, a male dog now called Tobey, were finally reunited after seven months.
Aspen and Tobey then bounded around with happiness, wagging their tails as they sprinted around the park.
Zack later shared a clip of the reunion on social media, which saw it receive a loving response.
He said: “I just felt joy. It was such an awesome experience to make that happen for them.
“If you don’t let your dog experience new things, their lives can get pretty repetitive.
“They rely solely on us for new experiences, and I was just so happy they had that moment.
“The dogs very clearly recognized each other.
“They were inseparable at the park, and we have had them together more since.”
