When Michael Naylor first held his dog Minnie as a newborn, he had no idea how deeply intertwined their lives would become.
For Naylor, 45, who lives in Ontario, Canada, with his wife and children, Minnie is more than a pet — she’s family. Speaking to TODAY.com, he describes her as a kindred spirit and a “twin flame.”
“She’s not a pet,” Naylor underlines. “I have four children, and I hate to say this, but I … we’ve imprinted on each other. It’s weird. I don’t go anywhere she can’t go. If she can’t go, I don’t go.”
But everything change in 2021, when Naylor’s health took a turn. He was already dealing with chronic pancreatitis and kidney issues when he was told by doctors that he had pancreatic cancer.
As his health quickly declined, it became more and more difficult for Naylor to take care of Minnie.
“I got real, real weak. I couldn’t even get out of bed,” Naylor explains. As a result, Minnie “wouldn’t get out of bed,” too, as she never left his side.
Naylor says it got to the point where Minnie’s attachment was unhealthy for her.
“My mom and (my) wife couldn’t even pull her out of the room to go outside, let alone go for a run or a walk. Just wouldn’t leave my side,” he recalls.
Since Naylor wasn’t sure if and when his health would improve, he wanted to make sure Minnie was set up to have the “life she deserved.”
“I couldn’t give her the life she needed because she (couldn’t) be cooped up in a room. She needs to run,” he says.
Naylor made the difficult decision to surrender Minnie to the Humane Society of Greater Niagara in 2022, where she became part of a humanitarian boarding program funded by PetSmart Charities. The program offers 30 days of free boarding for families in need, but Minnie stayed at the shelter for nearly a year as Naylor’s health continued to decline.
It was during this time that Naylor says life without Minnie became unbearable. He carried her dog tags in his pocket and even parked outside the shelter after his treatments to catch glimpses of her in the yard.
“There wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t think of her,” Naylor says.
Briana Howard, a senior animal care technician at the Humane Society of Greater Niagara, recalls how it was a difficult time for Minnie as well.
“Some dogs (come to the shelter and) are happy-go-lucky and don’t even really realize where they are,” she explains. “Minnie was the opposite. One thousand percent shut down, sad and reserved.”
Minnie was eventually adopted in September 2023. Once Naylor realized she had been rehomed, he started to lose hope.
“When she got adopted, I stopped everything. I literally gave up. I stopped going to the doctors. I stopped taking medicine, I stopped everything. I wouldn’t get out of my room. I was like, ‘I’m done,’” he recalls. “I thought she was gone for good, so I was doing pretty bad.”
But in May 2024, Minnie was returned to the Humane Society of Greater Niagara when her adopter faced personal challenges. Howard encourages anyone struggling with decisions around their pet to contact the shelter for support.
While Minnie’s return was heartbreaking for the shelter staff, who had worked hard to find her a home, it set the stage for a heartwarming twist.
“One day, I went on the website, and there’s a picture of her,” Naylor says. “I go, ‘Minnie’s back.’ My daughter said, ‘Dad, no, she’s not. That’s not Minnie. That’s somebody else. That’s an old picture, Dad, and it looks like Minnie. It could be an old picture.'”
“But something clicked in me, and I said, ‘I’m getting her back,” he recalls.
Around that same time, Naylor learned that he had been misdiagnosed with pancreatic cancer and instead, was given an intestinal cancer diagnosis. With this new information, a different doctor and regained hope, he began treatment and slowly got back his strength.
In October 2024, nearly two years after he surrendered Minnie, his condition entered remission. His first thought was to bring his pup back home, and he hurried to the shelter.
“When I called her, her ears perked up, and she came running. There’s no words to describe that moment,” Naylor describes of their reunion.
Howard also recollects the “special” memory of when Minnie saw Naylor at the shelter.
“When she walked through the door, it was her typical Minnie. Just sauntering in,” Howard shares. “But then she saw (Naylor), and everything changed. She absolutely exploded into her true self. It was like two years had never passed.”
“I don’t think he ever thought the day would come where he could have Minnie back in his life. So it was just a lobby full of emotions,” she continues. “She absolutely 1,000% remembered him and just, like, charged him. Everyone was crying.”
Bringing Minnie home was the final piece of Naylor’s recovery.
“When I brought her home, it felt like everything was whole again,” he says. “She’s my baby, my guardian angel, my everything. She’s the reason I’m still here.”
