Every time UPS carrier Katie Newhouser drove her big brown truck to his apartment complex, Leo the bulldog would go berserk.
“Whenever I would go to the complex, he would look crazy and want to come see me,” Neuhouser recalled. "He cared about me for a reason." He would always come up to me and lick my face.
Leo will also jump inside her truck. “He would sit there and smell,” Newhouser explained. “When I had to leave, he refused.
When Katie and Leo went for a walk one day, she finally met his owner, Tina.
"I saw Tina walking with Leo and stopped to pet him," Newhouser explained. "That's how I started talking to Tina." This is how I started communicating with the majority of my clients. If they have a dog, I'll stop.
This practice continued for more than a year: when Neuhauser arrived, Leo ran up to kiss her.
But everything changed for Assad in October last year.
“I was on vacation, and when I came back to work, I went to the complex,” Newhouser added. "As I was pulling the car over, I saw [Tina's] son Cannon pulling out with the furniture in the back, and I thought, 'Oh, this is weird.'
Katie called Tina's cell phone number several times, but every call went to voicemail. Katie finally studied Tina's Facebook profile and discovered the shocking truth... Tina had died.
Tina's son Cannon called Katie and offered to look for Leo while he was away in the Marines.
"I said [to Cannon], 'I'll take Leo so you can come back and get him out of your training,'" Neuhouser recalled. “Okay,” he replied. I picked him up the following Saturday.
“He ran up to me and started barking at me, just like he does when I'm in my UPS truck,” Newhouser added. “Then he jumped right into my truck.” I think he thought he was going for a ride because he likes to drive. But he was clearly puzzled.
In the weeks following Tina's death, Leo had a difficult time. Katie was often woken up in the middle of the night by Leo crying and crying because he missed his owner.
Fortunately, Leo has two new siblings to spend time with, as well as Katie's never-ending affection. Leo began to feel at peace in his new home after a few weeks.
Katie spoke up for Leo when no one else would. She took in the dog, took care of it, and convinced him that he would stay with her forever.
We sympathize with Leo, but we're glad he found Katie.
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