We have a black lab/ pitbull mixed puppy named Sebastian. He will be eight years old this year. He is my daughter’s Emotional Support Animal. I couldn’t imagine our lives without him.

When we rescued Bashy, he was only about five weeks old, and already had maybe three or four homes. I’m pretty sure he was on Craigslist at some point too. When I met with the last owner, they just gave him up like it was no big deal. I felt horrible for him. He was really tiny, full of worms and fleas. We got him to the vet and he was better in no time.

Bastian was originally supposed to be my puppy. My youngest daughter Scarlet really connected with him. She would carry him around and tell him what to do. He followed her everywhere and let her lay on him as he got bigger. While he is the most gentle, loving dog, he’s very protective of us both. Even when Scarlet and I are goofing around, he is on guard to make sure we don’t hurt each other. He gets so worked up that he dumps out his bin of toys and starts to rip them around.

Here’s just a few of my favorite pics of our Bashy.