Birch
His name was Sugar Bear — a six-month-old German Shepherd mix sentenced to death at a kill shelter in California, hidden in back kennels where the public never walks. A puppy who had never been outside.
But someone saw him and made the call.
He came home to a pack that showed him everything he had missed. Morning walks with the others, how to play, how to nap in a pile. What grass feels like under four legs that had only known concrete. Weekends brought beaches and mountain trails. He grew huge, keeps growing — sweet and curious and full of an energy that had nowhere to go until now..
Sugar Bear became Birch. Like the northern tree.