There are some dogs whose stories stay with you long after they leave rescue.
Apple was one of them.
In 2015, Apple was barely a year old and sitting on death row at the Baldwin Park Shelter. She was a 46-pound black dog with one blue eye, one brown eye, and an old injury to one of them. She had been passed over, sitting in her kennel waiting for someone to notice the sweet, gentle girl inside.
We noticed.
Labradors and Friends said yes.
And for me, Apple’s story has always been a little more personal.
I was the volunteer who pulled Apple from the shelter. I spent time with her before she became a Toliver, and over the years I had the privilege of spending time with Nicole, her family, and the dog who had once needed us to give her a chance.
So when Nicole recently told me they had lost Apple, this one hit hard.
Because I remembered the young dog we rescued.
And I knew just how extraordinary the life waiting for her would become.
From Shelter Dog to Family
On March 17, 2015, Apple went home.
Nicole remembers that young girl perfectly:
“One blue eye and one brown… a love propeller that wouldn’t stop… that shiny black coat and the velvet bat ears.”
What began as a rescue quickly became something much bigger.
Apple became family.
The Toliver daughters grew up with her beside them. There were cuddles and swimming, homework sessions, dress-up and dancing. Apple joined them on family adventures and was there through the ordinary days that, looking back, become some of the ones we treasure most.
Nicole’s favorite memory of Apple is beautifully simple:
“Coming through a door and being greeted by her.”
Anyone who has loved a dog for a lifetime understands exactly why that can be the thing you miss most.
She Knew What It Meant to Welcome Someone In
Apple’s rescue story didn’t end when she was adopted.
Over the years, the Tolivers opened their home to foster puppies, too.
And Apple—the dog who once sat in a shelter waiting for someone to make room for her—became part of welcoming other dogs who needed somewhere safe to land.
Nicole remembers watching Apple with those fosters and seeing a side of her that she didn’t share with everyone.
“Seeing her with fosters and how she loved!!! That wasn’t anything she shared with many…”
There is something especially beautiful about that circle.
Someone saved Apple.
Apple found her family.
And then Apple helped other dogs along their own journeys home.
Quietly, Gently and Fiercely
Nicole describes Apple as a dog who “loved quietly, gently and never let you doubt where you stand in her circle of trust.”
She also protected fiercely.
“She was always where she was needed and more.”
And when Apple needed her family, they were there for her, too.
Over the years, she faced several medical challenges, including ongoing eye care, two eye surgeries, and surgeries on both knees. None of it was easy for her.
But her family surrounded her through every recovery—day and night.
Nicole says Apple answered all of it “with a grateful heart.”
That’s what family does.
Until We Meet Again
On September 17, more than eleven years after Apple first walked into the Tolivers’ lives, they had to say goodbye to their Ladybug.
Nicole shared a beautiful vision of where she hopes Apple’s next journey has taken her:
Chuckit! balls. Endless grilled salmon. Sir Matty, Mr. Bean, Monty, Sugar, Frankie, Delta Chance—and a comfy resting place in a corner with a view.
Until they meet again. ❤️
Nicole began her tribute with something that will resonate with anyone who has ever truly loved a dog:
“If you say it was just a dog…”
Apple was never just a dog.
She was the puppy pulled from a shelter.
She was a little girl’s best friend.
She was a protector.
She was a patient.
She was a traveling companion.
She was a foster sister.
She was the familiar face waiting when someone walked through the door.
She was family.
And perhaps that’s one of the greatest gifts of rescue: we may be there at the beginning, when a dog desperately needs someone to say yes, but sometimes we’re lucky enough to watch what happens afterward.
I pulled Apple from the shelter in 2015.
The Tolivers gave her the life we hoped was waiting for her.
And for the rest of her life, Apple never had to wonder whether she was loved.
Rest easy, Ladybug Apple. 🌈🐾❤️
With love to Nicole Toliver and family, and with gratitude to everyone who was part of Apple’s life—her veterinary team, trainers, dog sitters, fosters, volunteers, and the entire rescue family who loved her along the way.