Sheri Hogue and her husband, Dave, are lifelong Labrador lovers. The Memphis, Tennessee, couple knows there are thousands of great dogs who need homes, so they foster and adopt.
In July 2024, they received a text message from the president of Lucky Lab Rescue and Adoption, Kathy Martin, asking if they could foster a stray dog who ended up at a Kentucky animal shelter.
“Kathy’s message said, ‘She reminds me so much of your Bella,’” Hogue told The Dodo.
Bella was a dog the Hogues adopted from Lucky Lab more than a decade ago, who died from cancer, leaving the couple heartbroken.
“She was our soul dog,” Hogue said. “We always wished we could find another dog just like her.”
After taking one look at the picture of the dog in need, the Hogues immediately offered to foster. The couple arranged to meet transporters who drove the dog from Kentucky to Tennessee.
“She was so beaten down and just an emotional wreck,” Hogue said. “She was so, so sad. She had really been traumatized.”
They named the dog Honey, and with the Hogues' love, she started to blossom. “Slowly over time, she began to smile,” Hogue said. The couple fell in love with Honey and adopted her.
Several months later, in April 2025, Hogue happened to see a post from Kathy Martin and Lucky Lab asking for someone to foster another yellow Labrador with several medical issues.
“I read her post and saw the photos of that little dog, and my heart just broke,” Hogue said. “It was about 2:30 a.m., and I woke up my husband and said, ‘I think I found a dog.’”
Hogue texted Martin and said she’d love to take the dog, who also just happened to be a stray from Kentucky.
The Hogues drove to Indiana to pick up the dog and brought her home on Easter Sunday.
“She and Honey bonded immediately,” Hogue said. “We renamed her Poppy and worked with our vet to get her health restored.”
As Poppy healed, the Hogues began to notice how many similarities the two dogs had.
“Very frequently they would snuggle up like puppies in a pile,” Hogue said. “My husband and I would frequently comment, ‘You know they were both found in Kentucky somewhere. I wonder if they came from the same place?’”
After seeing how adorable Honey and Poppy were together, the Hogues decided to adopt Poppy, too. And while it seemed impossible, the Hogues thought there might be a connection between the two dogs.
“We’ve never done anything like this before, but I researched dog DNA tests, and we decided to have their DNA tested to see if they had any kind of common relatives,” Hogue said.
Last month, the Hogues got an email saying the test results were in. They opened it and got the surprise of a lifetime: Honey and Poppy are siblings.
“We are blown away,” Hogue said.
The couple says they don’t believe in coincidences and think this reunion was meant to be.
“It has given us great joy to restore both these dogs to health and give them a safe, loving home,” Hogue said. “For them to be long-lost siblings who found their way back to each other from some terrible circumstances makes our hearts smile so big.”
The author of this story is a volunteer for Lucky Lab Rescue and Adoption.