When the Paskiewicz family first met Lightning, the bouncy black lab mix looked nothing like a dog who had been passed over time and again. But just weeks earlier, he had watched both his siblings, Sun and Buc, go home with new families while he waited alone at Mercy Full Project, a Florida animal rescue.

“He was such a spunky puppy,” the rescue team recalled. “He had more energy than the rest.” That exuberance, along with his sleek black coat, may have made some adopters hesitate. But the Packiewicz family fell in love.

The girls adore him. He sleeps in their room on the bean bag every night, and he's always the first one they say good morning to. They love playing football with him in the backyard and taking him on walks. He gets lots and lots of treats, and he attends puppy training school at PetSmart, which Maddie takes a very active role in. 

Lightning also went paddleboarding to the sandbar for the first time recently, and he loved it -- he only fell in once!