Morgan Yont and Matthew Kaczur have been together for about six years, so getting hitched seemed like a natural progression for their relationship.
It was also fitting that their rescue dog, Arlo, whom they adopted shortly after their love affair began, was there for the proposal — smack in the middle of photos taken to remind them of that day back in September.
The rescue dog, a mix between a German shepherd, Labrador retriever, rottweiler, husky and Coonhound, was diagnosed with lymphoma in March 2024. He underwent chemotherapy and other treatments, and another stint of treatments when his cancer returned.
Not related to his cancer, old age and a bad knee made it tough to walk long distances. So, the couple often took their 11-year-old in a buggy so he could go where they did.
The day of the proposal, Kaczur specifically chose the spot where he planned to pop the question based on what would be easiest for Arlo to get to.
Even though Arlo almost always was at their side, Yont was starting to wonder why so much effort was put into bringing him on the hike, over paths, across streams, in that buggy.
“It was inconvenient,” she says. “I really was thinking about Arlo, like he can’t cross the water very nicely. Eventually, when they were persistent, I was thinking, ‘Ok, maybe I should pretend I don’t know what’s happening.”
Kaczur figured his girlfriend was picking up on his plans.
“Morgan was catching on because we were being weird, but it was very important to have him be there,” Kaczur says. “I was saying we should all go back and get the buggy and cross the river again, which we didn’t necessarily have to do.
“Once we got there, she took a picture, and then we quickly swapped spots, got Arlo in the picture, and that’s when I got down on one knee.”
Morgan said, ‘Yes,’ and their beloved dog was there for the milestone moment.
Four days later, he was gone. The vet said he died of cardiac failure.
Arlo was a five-year-old diamond in the rough when the couple adopted him. From what they gleaned, he’d spent lots of his life chained up and moved from a shelter in Manitoba to one in Saskatchewan.
“He couldn’t pass a dog on the street without losing his mind, he would see himself in the mirror and bare his teeth and I don’t know if he’d even been in a house. It took him a bit to figure out the stairs,” Kaczur recalls. “He was just super reactive at the start. We constantly worked at his training.”
“It was just cool to see him evolve into the dog he was supposed to be,” Yont adds.
Given it was early in their relationship, the couple shared Arlo because they didn’t yet live together. And it’s a good thing it all worked out, because they didn’t have a pre-nup to protect them in case of a dispute over the mutt they both loved so much.
“I don’t recommend people getting a dog within less than a year of dating, but it just made sense; we both knew we wanted a dog,” Yont says. “Thank God, it worked out because we were both too obsessed with him. It seemed silly to both get a dog, so he went back and forth between our houses.”
With lots of love, patience and training, the canine shone — a testament to the wonderful transformation rescue dogs can undergo when they find their forever home.
“He does represent the start of our relationship,” Yont says. “He grew with us. We were growing together as a relationship, and he was growing into the dog he was supposed to be, and I do think that was his purpose.”
She urges anyone considering opening their home and hearts to a pet to find it at a rescue – whether it’s to foster for some time or adopt.
“There are so many dogs that need homes. There are great rescues in Alberta. It’s very rewarding and you get to see the dog they are meant to be and the life they are meant to live,” she says. “It’s very special.”
Kaczur says Arlo was his ‘work wife,’ and, given that he works from home, the pair would often spend lunchtime together.
“That was like the biggest adjustment right off the back, coming down and him not being there,” he says. “It was really tough for a couple of weeks. It is still tough.”
Yont says losing Arlo showed just how ingrained the dog was in all their routines; at the door when they brushed their teeth in the morning, and always ready for outdoor adventures.
“He wouldn’t let you forget about his walk even when he was sick or still not able to move as much as the walks got shorter, but he was still absolutely thrilled to see his leash and collar and go on a walk,” Kaczur says.
Yont takes comfort knowing there were lessons from Arlo’s life and loss — their beloved dog was always an essential chapter in their love story.
“He taught us patience, the value of time,” she says. “Even now, after losing him, the understanding that time heals a lot of things. And even for him, clearly, time was on his side for how he evolved.”