Who knew a tiny little French Bulldog named Junebug could have such a monumental impact in someone’s life.

My name is Niki and I am a small animal veterinarian. I have worked as a veterinarian for the past fifteen years. During this time, I have helped many amazing clients and their furry family members. I have worked with people through the good times and the saddest of times. Through it all, I have found my niche in emergency medicine and surgery and see pets at their sickest and most vulnerable.

Over the span of my career, I have had dozens of opportunities to take in pets that families could no longer care for. Whether rescued or abandoned, I would nurse them back to health, and if I could, find them loving homes. About four years ago, out of the blue, one of my colleagues strolled up with a small French Bulldog puppy with special needs that needed my help. Thus began a journey I never would have expected.

Junebug was born with a cleft palate, basically an opening between her nose and mouth preventing her from nursing and putting her at high risk of pneumonia. In order to provide nutrition and allow her to grow, she had to be tube fed every 2 hours for 6 weeks. Eventually she became big enough to begin to eat kibble and could drink from a hamster water bottle. Despite having a setback with pneumonia at several weeks old that necessitated a hospital stay, her feisty spirit pulled her through.

Things were looking up as she transitioned to eating on her own until a fateful day after a fun weekend in Tahoe. Junebug suddenly took a turn for the worse and started to struggle to breath, becoming progressively weaker. I rushed her to work and after performing various tests it was determined that she had Eisenmengers Syndrome. This is a very serious congenital heart defect which put her on lifelong medication and frequent visits to her cardiologist.

As Junebug grew, it became apparent that despite her many serious medical conditions, she was a fighter and had a strong will to live. Because of her need for medications and special food and water, Junebug would accompany me to work every day at the hospital. She would trot to the car each morning, ready to put in another long day at work. We would make our usual stop at Starbucks where I would order my typical latte and a puppacino for Junebug, in order to gear up for the day ahead.

When Junebug was around 6 months old, she shocked us all as she started to develop an attitude . . . a strong one! Weighing in at a whopping 12 pounds, she could be the sweetest dog on Earth OR the meanest. She knew what she liked and what she didn’t and had no issue biting anyone that dared to tell her no. All who knew and loved her also had a healthy fear of the tiny terror.

Things were going well until she was 2 years old and again became deathly ill with a gastrointestinal obstruction. She was rushed to emergency surgery where she had to lose 75% of her small intestines. Despite the odds, she survived to live, antagonize and torture all those around her.

Junebug pulled through yet again with another life threatening condition and continued to live her best life. She went on many hiking excursions, camping trips, vacations and spent her time cuddling with those that loved her so dearly. The many that loved her could overlook her mood spells and see the beautiful soul that she was. For those that could speak her “language of love”, she rewarded with snuggles and affection.

But with such severe medical issues, we all knew Junebug was not fated to live a full, long life. At 4 years old her heart finally couldn’t continue any longer and started to fail. The sweet, feisty, larger than life French Bulldog had to be put down. She had fought her way into the world and spent every day showing me what it means to live life to the fullest.

Her loss was devastating and left a huge void in our lives. Yet, her legacy lives on as so many people knew her story and had met her over the years. Soon I started hearing from people with many other dogs in need, especially French Bulldogs that have a high rate of congenital abnormalities, thus beginning a long line of rescue pups.

There will only be one Junebug, but her life started a lifelong desire in me to help pets in crisis, especially those with special needs. She sparked a part of me that longed to help in a much bigger capacity and eventually led me to form the Junebug Foundation.