Second-Chance Dogs by Callie Smith Grant

Author:Callie Smith Grant
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Inspiration;Dog owners—Religious life;Rescue dogs—Anecdotes;Dogs—Religious aspects—Christianity—Anecdotes;PET004000;REL012040
ISBN: 9781493415120
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2018-06-28T16:00:00+00:00

Rusty to the Rescue

Audrey Leach

The first time I met Rusty Dog he was curled up in the back seat of the car. He was a beautiful deep red with feathering in his tail and a ruff with tips of gold. His right leg was shaved from his hip on down, and his eyes were a deep soulful brown. Rusty Dog was a mixed collie and chow chow with the nose and ears of the collie and the dignity and intelligence of the chow chow. He lifted and cocked his head and gazed into my eyes. He decided to let me get in the car.

The next thing I knew, Rusty Dog climbed through the opening from the back seat to the front seat. He sat on my lap, gave me a nuzzle, and proceeded to the floor to lie on my feet. This was no small feat for a dog who had been shot in the hip. The shattered socket had been replaced with a ball so he could stand, leaving his right leg two inches shorter than his other legs.

I met Rusty because I was going on a date with his human, Chris. I do not really know what made me go on that first date. I had not dated for over two years, and that was fine with me, as I was content being single. Marriage did not seem to be in my future. Then out of the blue, I got a phone call from this friend of my brother-in-law, asking me out. I had met the man four years ago and gone out with him once. We did not have one thing in common, so we went our separate ways—until I got that phone call.

My date showed up that Saturday night with Rusty Dog (Nail was his middle name) in the car. He had rescued Rusty from the middle of a remote dirt road. Someone had shot him clean through his leg at the hip. Chris stopped, took him home, and then to the vet, who sent them to Michigan State University. Their vet school doctors performed the surgery for the hip socket replacement.

Chris had just divorced and was devastated. But having Rusty gave him someone to care for when he had nothing else. As for me, I thought there was no one I could connect to, no one I could find common ground with to build a relationship or future with, until that date with Chris. And Rusty Dog.

We went to the movies. Rusty Dog went with us. He went to the park with us, the grocery store, meetings with friends—every time I got into the car, Rusty would climb through from the back to the front. He would reverse the process every time I got out.

That September we hunted for mushrooms, and Rusty came along with us to a beautiful wooded hillside and open fields. This piece of land would later become the site for our first home. We went swimming one day at the end of the summer, and of course Rusty Dog jumped in right along with us.

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