Dooders RescueJourney

Sometimes, rescue stories begin with a plan. Dooder's didn't.

After a long day at work and an adoption event, Hands N' Paws manager Heather was finally heading home. She had exited Highway 395 and was preparing to turn onto Highway 21 when something caught her eye.

A black blob.

It was moving in the opposite direction, disappearing over a hill and heading away from town, straight into the middle of the wheat country.

Something about it didn't look right.

So Heather turned around and followed.

"That's not a coyote."

She was right.

Standing alone in the middle of nowhere was a little black pit bull mix.

He was beat up, covered in cuts across his face, chest and ears. He was exhausted, wary, and clearly unsure of the strange human who had suddenly appeared.

But he knew one thing: the shade underneath Heather's car looked pretty good.

He didn't want to come close, and honestly, who could blame him?

So Heather tried something else.

She had a Chick-fil-A meal in her passenger seat.

She never made it home with that meal.

With a leash in one hand and Chick-fil-A in the other, Heather slowly worked to gain his trust. Eventually, the little dog decided that maybe this human, and whatever was inside that magical food bag, was worth taking a chance on.

And that's how Dooder got into the car.

There wasn't a plan.

There wasn't a foster lined up.

There wasn't a kennel waiting for him.

There was simply a dog in the middle of nowhere who clearly needed someone to stop.

Heather wasn't going to leave him there.

She contacted the county shelter and posted about him in a nearby community Facebook group, hoping someone might recognize him. But as the hours passed, no owner came forward.

So the next morning, Dooder went to work with her at Hands 'N Paws.

And that's when his story really began.

A Second Chance

During intake, the team discovered that Dooder had a microchip.

There was just one problem.

It wasn't registered.

There was no owner to call. No obvious place for him to go home to.

Dooder needed a little TLC, and maybe a little education, too.

Over the next several weeks, he worked on his manners and learned how to be a dog who was ready for a family.

And the team learned a lot about him along the way.

Dooder was good with other dogs.

He loved being outside, he discovered that doggy pools were pretty fantastic, he loved chasing wakes at the lake, and underneath all that uncertainty was a goofy, happy little guy who really just wanted to enjoy life.

He became Dooder.

And slowly, the dog who had once been wandering wheat country became a dog who was ready to meet his future.

Finding His Person

Once Dooder was neutered and up to date on his vaccinations, it was time to put his new skills to the test.

He went to his first adoption event.

No forever home.

Then came his second.

By this point, Dooder had been waiting for almost two months.

And then someone walked into his life.

A woman met Dooder and fell in love with him.

Not the dog who had been found wandering alone.

Not the dog covered in cuts.

Not the dog with the unregistered microchip.

Dooder.

The goofy guy who loved the water.

The dog who learned how to trust again.

The little pit mix who had once been a black blob disappearing over a wheat-covered hill.

This time, he wasn't going home with a stranger who was simply trying to get him somewhere safe.

He was going home.

Today, Dooder is safe with his forever person, and the little dog who once had nowhere to go finally has exactly where he belongs.

Sometimes a rescue doesn't start with knowing where a dog is going.

Sometimes it starts with simply deciding that they aren't going to face the next mile alone.

And for Dooder, one wrong turn, one observant person, and one sacrificed Chick-fil-A meal changed everything.

Happy tails, Dooder.