Syaz was overwhelmed with emotion when she took to Reddit last week. She titled her post “Shelter hippo Appa saved my life yesterday” and typed hurriedly.
“I took Appa out for a field trip to give him a break from the shelter yesterday with no plans on what to do. We ended up just going back to hang out at my apartment.”

Appa is a 6-year-old pup adored by staff and volunteers. The team sweetens his life with field trips, and Syaz took him out that day. It turned out to be a fortunate choice! Syaz continues:
“Long story short, I had a medical emergency for the first time and my partner, who normally works from home, is out of town.
Appa was in a whole other room and came running in to find me a few seconds before I even realized something was wrong.
He kept me up and led me to the couch, I fell over twice but he stayed under my arm and looked at me with these huge worried eyes.
Later on the couch, I felt my heart start racing out of nowhere, twice, and both times before it happened Appa would press his face into my chest. Appa is already a velcro dog, but yesterday he wouldn’t leave my side at all.”


In gratitude, Syaz made Appa a home-cooked meal before bringing him back from the field trip. And she wants the world to know that the dog, long overlooked by adopters, is a real gem.
Adopt a hero!
Need a loyal pup? Come to meet Appa at Friends For Life!
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