This is our beloved yellow lab, Manny! This guy has been the center of our world for many years and the love and bond we share with him is tighter than most blood family members. His sweet, gentle personality is one of his best characteristics......and his constant ability to melt the hearts of anyone that comes into contact with him has been at times overwhelming. My reason for this email is not to offer him up for adoption......that was done back in 2007....... But let me back up for a moment and explain: My name is David. My husband Keith and I had our first encounter with Mr. Manny quite some time ago. We were living in Florida at the time and were looking for a yellow Labrador to add to our family. We looked for what seemed to be an eternity and finally came across this guy. After a drive from Tampa down to Coral Gables, we showed up to pick up our new friend. We were greeted at the door by a monster of a dog barreling out to see who was there. When we asked the foster mom where Manny was, she smirked and pointed out at the big blonde Labrador that we tripped over on the way in. Since that moment the 3 of us have been inseparable. Manny jumped into our car to go with us as if he had done it a hundred times before. Over the years he has given us unconditional love as we have to him. We have traveled all over the country and taken him with us to places a lot of humans never even get to enjoy. Everywhere from North Carolina, Tennesse, Texas, Arizona, Arkansas, Nevada, Utah.......and the list goes on. The sheer volume of photos that we have all taken together would take months to review and enjoy.......not to mention all the home movies along the way. (Including some really fun underwater video since Manny ABSOLUTELY LOVES to swim!!!) About two years ago, after some pretty extensive testing, Manny was diagnosed with a condition called "Mega Esophagus". This condition (in short) is where the esophagus is stretched and most of his food and saliva gets stuck and never makes it to his stomach for digestion. This causes him to regurgitate the contents up.....causing weight loss, dehydration and acid reflux. We have taken all the proper measures to alleviate the issues (including sitting him up in a "Bailey Chair" 2 times a day while eating, along with medication, etc.) These methods have proven to help TREMENDOUSLY. Unfortunately, in the past few months things have taken a major turn for the worse and Manny's quality of life has begun to deteriorate. Just this past Sunday, Keith and I decided that enough is enough and had him humanely put to rest in the comfort of our living room as we held him close and watched him fade away. In an effort to help with the extreme sadness that we are going through now, I decided to write to you, Labrador Rescue, because we found the love of our beloved MANNY through you guys back in 2007! You guys helped us find a perfect fit for our family......and boy was he ever. We have repeated over and over again that we could not have found a BETTER dog anywhere. And we THANK YOU for playing such a huge role in helping us find him. They say that in a rescue situation it is the DOG that rescues the HUMANS.......and we believe that whole heartedly. What a great life Manny gave to us. We are so proud to have been his chosen family. The pain is too great right now (the day AFTER his death) to even consider another.......but once we "lick our wounds", if we find it in our hearts to look for another member to join our pack, Labrador Rescue will be the first place we look. The picture in the car is the day we got Manny (August 21, 2007) We even kept a copy of the original ad for him on your website......the description was COMPLETELY ACCURATE. (see below) The other photos are more recent of him (notice his grey hair!) Thank you again. We love what you guys do. Sincerely, David & Keith