In April 2024, my husband and I discovered a dog sleeping under a tree at the end of our dirt road. There was a “missing dog” sign a few roads over with a picture that looked similar to this dog. We called and they stated their dog was male. So the female dog hiding on our road wasn’t theirs. We thought maybe it was our neighbor’s dog, and we just hadn’t noticed her before.
A few days later we saw her lurking in the pasture with a small puppy. When we tried to approach them they wagged their tails, but barked and ran off. That’s when we knew they were strays.
“We can’t keep them,” my husband told me, but I knew I had to at least help find them a home.
I came home from work, and as I turned onto our dead-end road, they were under that first tree sleeping. They were in the shade, but it was insanely hot that day. I felt my heart ache as I saw the little black-and-white puppy curled into its mother.
I parked my car at my house and changed out of my work clothes before heading down the road to give them a few treats. They barked at me as I approached, my shoes crunching the gravel underneath with each step. Though when I tossed the treats on the ground beside them from a safe distance they ate them quickly and wagged their tails.
Once I had given them all I had I began to walk home. I didn’t want to try to pet them in case they thought to follow me home. I must have made it 5 feet down the road before I felt the puppy playfully bite at my pants leg. His mother was right behind him. They never left our side from that point on. They flashed us those sweet puppy dog eyes and it was over.
My husband and I had been watching “Star Wars” when we found them. So we named the mama dog Ani, short for Anakin. And the puppy was named Chewie after his talkative Chewbacca sounds. Though he was also very fond of chewing up my shoes in particular, serving as a very comical double meaning.
On May 4, 2024, Chewie was shot by one of our neighbor’s children. After discovering him whimpering outside with Ani trying to console him, I scooped him up in my arms and rushed him to the emergency vet. I didn’t know I could drive so well with one arm until that day. I was assured by the vet tech that he was in shock, but would be OK. That didn’t stop me from crying the whole way home. Leaving without him felt illegal.
When we got him back we were unsure if he would be able to use his right leg ever again. It was up in the air if the nerve damage from the gunshot wound would heal. Though the Force was with our little Chewie! He hobbled around on three legs and after medicine and time he began to use his paw! He walked a little funny, but he did it! Our sweet, strong boy did it.
They are the happiest, sweetest dogs. To think that we found them under a tree!
