Our pet of the week, Delilah, a sweet, little Dachshund-German Shepherd mix, lives with her human companion, at Provision Living at Webster Groves, where she is happy to have a warm, dry place to live.

Four years ago, when Lillian Asbell found Delilah walking alongside a road during a very bad hurricane, she had to stop and help.

It was pouring down rain. The roads, and the poor dog, were drenched. Sadly, cars were just passing Delilah by–nobody even slowed down for her. Lillian could not imagine why anyone would leave their dog out in such horrible weather or why people could just pass by  without helping her.

Lillian pulled her car to the shoulder. Delilah did not resist, She jumped in the back seat right away. Lillian drove the dog to the Humane Society, where a veterinarian helped her search in a number of books for he dog’s owner. There were no records of ownership in any of them.

Delilah was not wearing tags, which made it difficult to locate her owner and to know her name. So, the veterinarian began calling her Delilah. The pup seemed to like it.

After searching diligently for five hours, the Veterinarian turned to Lillian and said, “Well, we can’t find the owner. Would you like to keep her?”

Lillian said, “Sure!”

The veterinarian gave her papers to fill out, so she could adopt Delilah. Since moving into the Provision Living assisted living community in Webster Groves, Lillian reflects on her time with Delilah and has the sense that they’ve been together forever.

“She’s just so lovable and wonderful. She’s just like a child,” said Lilian.

When Delilah wants Lillian to go to bed, she has a unique way of telling her she is ready for her human to go to sleep.

“She does the cutest thing at night,” Lillian said. “When it’s time for bed and I’m sitting in the living room, Delilah will come out of the bedroom, look at me, look at the bedroom and look back at me as to say, ‘Mom, it’s time for bed.’