Brindle was once a sad and lonely shelter dog in Pennsylvania until JD Aument and his wife, Rachel, decided to adopt him. While he loved both his new owners, he really formed an instant connection with JD. As Rachel as revealed, JD is Brindle’s favorite, while she’s their other dog, Xander’s, favorite.
Because Brindle and JD are so close, Brindle took it extremely hard when JD was deployed at the beginning of 2018. JD spent almost a year overseas serving as a firefighter in the Army Reserves. While the whole family felt JD’s absence, it was particularly hard on Brindle.
“He’s so sad without him here,” Rachel said. At that point in time, JD had been gone for nine months. “He has days where he just sits at the front window, crying.”
JD hated the idea of Brindle being so depressed, so he came up with a brilliant solution: his scent. JD then went through his clothes and picked out a smelly, unwashed shirt that he sent in the mail.
When Rachel received the package and presented it to Brindle, the dog immediately knew who’s scent it was.
Posted by Rach Almind on Tuesday, March 26, 2019
The somber, depressed attitude that Rachel had previously described, instantly melted away. Brindle was extremely upbeat as he flopped on the floor and rolled around on JD’s shirt, wagging his tail as he sniffed it.
“He immediately knew that it was JD’s shirt. There was no doubt about it,” Rachel said. “I was crying so hard while recording his reaction.”
Brindle spent the entire next day carrying the shirt around everywhere he went – he even slept with it. Rachel made things a little easier for Brindle and dressed him up in the shirt. And she revealed that Brindle wasn’t the only one who appreciated the shirt.
“I miss JD so much and it was the first time any of us had smelled him in almost 10 months,” she said. “I had to take a minute with the shirt for myself before I could share with Brindle.”
Thankfully, the family didn’t have to wait any longer for JD to come home as he arrived a month later to what we can only imagine was a very tearful but joyous reunion.
