Apryl was sinking further into depression when, on a whim, she started to search for a pet online. The Navy veteran was looking for a big dog after the death of the family’s dog Shiloh, but a tiny mutt weighing less than a sack of potatoes captured her heart.

Lilting leeward

It was April 2023 when Apryl joined Pets for Patriots. A serious accident delayed her pet adoption plans for several months.

By November—and a month after Shiloh’s passing—the Navy veteran started to search for another four-legged soul to save.

“After our Shiloh passed last month,” she shares at the time, “I just kind of shut down. I don’t know why I got online when I did and just started looking at dogs.”

Despite looking for big dogs, which Apryl and her family preferred, it was a very small one that caught her attention.

Papi was in the care of Prince George’s County Animal Services. He was about three years old at the time, a Chihuahua mix weighing less than nine pounds.

Since 2013 the shelter waives adoption fees for veterans in our program who adopt eligible dogs and cats. Together we have saved more than 190 animals through our partnership.

So days before Thanksgiving, Apryl rescued the pint-sized pup.

But it would be Papi who saved the Navy veteran from drowning in depression.

Happy days

In no time the tiny dog earned a name change: Hapi, for how he makes Apryl and the rest of her family feel.

“The kids love him, my husband loves him, and I couldn’t be happier,” Apryl shares.

“He cuddles with my daughter and my husband, and when our son falls asleep on the couch, he will cuddle with him.”

Despite his history being a mystery, Hapi fit in well with his new family. He even likes the 16-and-a-half year-old cat, who her husband had before prior to marrying Apryl.

Most of all, Hapi has been the perfect antidote to Apryl’s depression. He is the constant, loving companion that she did not even know she needed.

“I honestly don’t know where I would be without him,” she says. “He’s my little mini shadow and goes with me everywhere.”

“…I love him so much”

Hapi does more than keep Apryl’s depression at bay.

The petite pup taps into the Navy veteran’s nurturing instincts, and gets a daily pedicure as his reward.

Every night Apryl massages Hapi’s paws before bed. And he lets her buff his nails—another ritual—so that he does not scratch the children by accident.

At bedtime Hapi joins Apryl and her husband in their bed, where he buries himself under the blankets.

And the tiny dog loves the almost doll-sized clothing that Apryl enjoys buying for him.

“I can tell you already,” she says, “that he really likes his clothes.”

But it is not the wardrobe, the nightly paw rub, or the affection for the kids or the cat. There is something about Hapi—who lives up to his name—that saved Apryl from sinking.

“This adoption has helped pull me out of a depressive mood that was making me feel very lonely. Even with my husband and kids with me, and doing stuff, but I felt like I wasn’t there,” she shares.

“Hapi truly does make me happy, and I love him so much.”