We own 40 acres in McKenna, WA, which we shared with our two lab mixes, Chloe and Otis. One cold March day 6 years ago, we looked outside and there in the rain were two wet, skinny and hungry dogs; they must have smelled our dogs or their food. I took out some food on paper plates - they ran away at first, but were so hungry they decided to take a chance and gobbled up the food like they hadn't eaten in days. Then the larger one (we found out he was the male) picked up the plate in his mouth and looked at us. Well, that was that! We tried for over 3 weeks to find their owners, but it was obvious they had been dumped.
We noticed the male was walking funny, and got him to turn over on his back. His hair was so matted between his legs that he could barely walk, and the skin all inflamed and red. We carefully trimmed the mats away; he got up, took a few steps, and looked back at us in wonder. Then he started to run. And ran and ran and ran, for about 15 minutes. My husband and I just stood there and cried!
Now, 6 years later, they are happy, healthy and contented members of our family. Buddy is the larger one in front; Littlin, his sister, is the one laying down. The other puppy is our lab mix Otis. Chloe, our oldest dog, is camera shy! Buddy and Littlin got their names because my husband said, don't name them, we're not keeping them, so they became Bud and Little One. It sometimes gets crazy inside our 950 square foot house, but we love them all. They've brought so much joy to our lives!
McKenna, WA
