Guide dogs for other dogs aren’t entirely uncommon
Months ago I posted about the best animals on the internet, rounding up the latest of the funniest or cutest animal stories I’d seen. Today I want to share two of the most heartwarming stories about dogs I saw in October. MSNBC Today has the first story.
Erica Daniel specializes in fostering the dogs that really need help, either for behavioral or health issues. She’s used to not giving up, to pouring everything she can into healing these dogs so that they’re ready to go into homes.
This summer she found herself having to prepare to put a puppy to sleep. It seemed like nothing could be done for tiny Harper, a pit bull puppy. A woman rescued Harper from a grocery store parking lot, where a man was selling pit bulls. The woman heard a noise coming from a garbage bag the man held in his hand. When she asked him what the noise was, he said not to worry about it.
The woman insisted, and the man opened the bag to reveal a completely misshapen, deformed little puppy. Harper was whisked to a shelter where all of the professionals, rescue and medical alike, came to the same heart-wrenching conclusion: Harper really ought to be put to sleep.
She has “swimmer puppy disorder,” which means she was born with her two front legs sticking out side to side. Her chest was flat and she couldn’t walk. Most dogs with this condition don’t survive.
Daniel didn’t think she could save Harper. Her only plan was to bring the puppy home for one night, so for once in its life it could experience love and affection. “I had to show her what it was like to be loved,” Daniel said. “I’d planned on taking her home that night, letting her sleep in bed with us, and having her humanely euthanized in the morning.”
Once in a while, love can do what medical science can’t. Daniel spent the night massaging Harper’s muscles, and miraculously the little puppy was able to start moving and pulling herself around. The next morning Daniel brought her to a specialist, who concluded that Harper’s condition wasn’t as severe as it seemed. She needed serious physical therapy, but she could survive.
Regular sessions of hydrotherapy later, and little Harper can now hold her own running around outside with Daniel’s other dogs. She’ll be ready to go to a home soon, if Daniel can stand to let her baby go. See pictures of Harper here.
My other story is shorter, but no less sweet. We’ve all heard of guide dogs for the blind, but what about guide dogs for other dogs? Two Great Danes were left at Shrewsbury Dogs Trust in the U.K. this July, one of them blind and the other her guide dog.
BBC News tells of Lily, who had her eyes removed as a puppy. Since finding her fellow Great Dane Maddison hasn’t left her side. They have a special leash that attaches them to each other as well as to their walker. Their prior owner couldn’t provide care for them anymore, and many prospective owners coming to the shelter were daunted by the task of looking after them.
Once the shelter put the story online, however, the shelter became flooded with offers for adoption. The staff at Dogs Trust no longer worries about finding the perfect loving home for both Lily and Maddison. The Daily Mail has pictures of them here.
These stories are so sweet, but they’re also sad. To end on a happier note, check out these hilarious videos of some guilty dogs.
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*(This image by Lisa is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.)