Category: Awww

Heartwarming: Washington Woman Adopts Dog Who Shares Her Medical Condition

Sue Blackenship of Newman Lake, Wash., was born with patent ductus arteriosisa (PDA), a heart condition that occurs when a blood vessel that should fully close after birth fails to do so. This allows deoxygenated blood to flow into an area of the heart in which there should only be oxygenated blood. Without corrective surgery, PDA causes early-onset congestive heart failure — which is fatal.

In December, Blackenship read about about Bruno, a young Lab mix at the Spokane Humane Society (SHS) shelter who needed surgery for the same heart condition.

According to the SHS Facebook page, Bruno was originally from San Antonio, Texas, and had been transported from a partner shelter to the humane society in early October.

“Shortly after Bruno’s arrival, our veterinarian found that he has a severe heart murmur,” the SHS wrote. X-rays confirmed he had PDA.

“In that moment, as crazy as it sounds, I just had this feeling that we were meant to be because I had had that same surgery like 60 years ago,” Blankenship told KING 5. She enlisted the help of her family and neighbors to help pay the $4,000 needed for Bruno’s surgery, which he underwent at Washington State University’s Veterinary Hospital.

“I just felt like I had a connection with him,” she said. “I couldn’t forget him, you know what I mean?” She regularly checked the Spokane Humane Society’s Facebook page, hoping for an update on the dog she just couldn’t get out of her mind.

As soon as Bruno had recovered from surgery and was available for adoption, Blankenship went to see him at the shelter.

“He jumped up on the fencing and just made incredible eye contact with me, I mean just like boring into me,” she told KING 5. “I just felt like he was saying, ‘Take me.'”

So that’s exactly what Blankenship did. Bruno, who’s now called (by his last name?) Mars, is very happy in his new forever home.

The new dog mom hopes others will follow her lead and rescue a pet from a shelter.

“You might not think you’re in the right spot for an animal right now, you’re wrong,” she told KING 5. “Everything you give to a dog, they give it back 100 fold.”

Here’s hoping Blankenship and Mars spend many happy years together — and from now on that “PDA” only applies to their public displays of affection.

Photo: Spokane Humane Society/Facebook

5 Reasons Why Jon Stewart Is So Doggone Awesome

This post was originally published in August 2015.

During his tenure as host of “The Daily Show” from January 1999 to August 2015, Jon Stewart skewered the news media and plenty of politicians — but he’s always had a soft spot for dogs, especially Pit Bulls.

Here are just five of the many reasons why Jon Stewart is a doggone awesome guy.

Bonus Fun Fact

Even the theme song of “The Daily Show” has a canine-related title: it’s “Dog on Fire,” performed by They Might Be Giants.

The instrumental tune was written by Bob Mould of Hüsker Dü. Based on the sound effects in the original version, its rather disturbing title might refer to a bowler who’s scoring a lot of strikes.

5. ‘The Daily Show’ office is dog friendly.

“On any given day, a half dozen dogs roam the halls, scavenge for treats and bark when people start clapping at ‘The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,'” according to The Daily Show Dogs, a Facebook page dedicated to these lucky pets.

In September 2012, Brian Williams did about this perk for NBC’s “Rock Center.” (For the record, Williams was not lying about “The Daily Show” being dog friendly.)

4. Jon Stewart is a longtime Pit Bull advocate.

When Tia Torres, founder of the Villalobos Rescue Center featured on “Pit Bulls and Parolees,” was a guest in September 2014, she told Stewart, “I knew who Jon Stewart was before I knew what ‘The Daily Show’ was, because you’re such a Pit Bull advocate.”

3. He enlightened his audience about puppy mills.

The “Big Red Dogs” segment, in which Olivia Munn interviewed a supporter of puppy mills, aired after Missouri’s Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act passed in November 2010.

“They’re expecting breeders to sit there and pay for an exorbitance amount of care that is not needed, like adequate food, adequate water, adequate space,” says Anita Andrews, director of Alliance for Truth, an organization that opposed the law.

The segment gets even funnier/scarier after that, with appearances by “Dog Whisperer” Cesar Millan and spcaLA President Madeline Bernstein.

2. He ripped Michael Vick a new one.

When it was discovered in 2007 that the NFL’s Michael Vick ran a dog-fighting operation and had killed several dogs himself, like most of us, Stewart was livid.

“I’d like to cover him in liver and let the dogs see if he’s as fast and elusive as they say he is,” Stewart said, fuming, as the studio audience cheered.

“My guess is no.”

1. He’s the dog dad of rescued Pit Bulls, including three-legged Little Dipper.

Stewart doesn’t just advocate on behalf of Pit Bulls — he provides them with a loving forever home. Stewart, his wife Tracey (who’s a former veterinary technician) and their family have three: Monkey, Shamsky (named after baseball legend Art Shamsky) and three-legged Little Dipper.

In a series of ridiculously sweet photos posted on Buzzfeed in May 2013, Stewart could be seen walking Little Dipper with a bright green leash along a New York City street.

In the photo below, as Stewart pats the lucky pup on the head, Little Dipper appears to be having his very own “Moment of Zen.”

Photos via Pinterest; Buzzfeed

Baaa-d Job? Border Collie Herder-in-Training Leads Sheep into House

Rocky, a seven-month-old Border Collie puppy, is just getting his paws wet at the art of herding sheep.

So perhaps his owner, Rosalyn Edwards of Devon, England, shouldn’t have been too surprised at what she found inside her home late last month.

“I was in the kitchen and heard a noise,” Edwards told The Telegraph. “I turned around and the sheep were just standing there. There were about nine of them.”

The sight of all those sheep inside her house was pretty hilarious, but the mess they made? Not so much. “There was quite a lot of wee, poo and mud everywhere,” Edwards said. “It took me a little while to clean it all up.”

How did the sheep end up inside her house? Edwards, her husband and her son had gone out into a field, inadvertently leaving a gate open behind them. Being a super smart Border Collie, young Rocky quickly took advantage of the situation and led the sheep into the house through a back door.

Thank goodness for smart phones — Edwards was able to record the video below of the sheep inside her house, which has been viewed more than 92,000 times on Facebook.

Edwards put her children in another room, and she and her husband were able to successfully shoo the sheep out the front door.

As for Rocky, he was very pleased with himself, Edwards said. After all, how many herding dogs have the skills to lead sheep inside houses?

“He brought a whole new meaning to ‘bringing the sheep home,’” she told The Telegraph.

Photo via Rosalyn Edwards/Facebook

R.I.P. Smiley, Blind Puppy Mill Survivor Who Became an Inspiring Therapy Dog

Smiley, a 16-year-old Golden Retriever who spent most of his life inspiring people with special needs, crossed the Rainbow Bridge today.

“Dogs can come back from anything. They forget their past,” his dog mom, Joanne George, a dog trainer who lives in Stouffville, Canada, told CBS News two years ago. “We as humans, dwell on the past.”

The particular dog George she was referring to was Smiley, who spent the first couple years of his life in a puppy mill. If that alone wasn’t bad enough, Smiley was born with dwarfism — and without eyes.

George rescued Smiley when he was 2 years old. “He was very scared,” she told ABC News. “[The dogs] had never been out of that barn.”

Although Smiley initially cowered at the sound of George’s other dog, a partially deaf Great Dane named Tyler, the two became best friends as Tyler helped bring Smiley out of his shell. “Tyler was so bouncy and crazy and happy-go-lucky, and [Smiley] turned into the same dog,” George told ABC News. “He came out from underneath the tables where he was always hiding.”

As Smiley blossomed, George noticed the positive effect he had on people who were naturally drawn to and inspired by her special dog. “I realized this dog has to be a therapy dog — I have to share him,” she told CBS News.

Smiley and George joined the St. John Ambulance therapy dog program in Ontario. Smiley helped children with special needs learn to read through a library literacy program, and also comforted people at funeral homes and nursing homes.

Until Smiley came along, the employees of one nursing home had never seen a mute patient named Teddy express any emotion.

“One day, Smiley put his feet up in front of [Teddy], and he started smiling and making noise,” George told CBS News. “All of the nurses rushed into the room and said they’ve never seen him smile — never seen any kind of reaction.”

Smiley touched hearts around the world when he became a social media sensation, with nearly half a million followers on Facebook and Instagram.

In July, veterinarians found tumors on Smiley’s liver and stomach. As his health quickly deteriorated, George made the difficult decision to end his suffering. “It’s the only way we can repay him for all he’s done,” she wrote on Smiley’s Facebook page yesterday. “He’s had enough.”

Farewell, sweet Smiley. All around the world, many of us are shedding tears for a dog we never had the privilege to meet. My heart goes out to George and her family. How lucky Smiley was to have such a loving and devoted dog mom.

“Please, in honor of Smiley — see the world around you with your ❤️, be kind to others and give back in any way you can,” George wrote on Smiley’s Facebook page today in her announcement of her beloved dog’s death.

Let’s all do it.

Photo via Twitter

German Shepherd Stays by Pit Bull Buddy’s Body on Busy Highway

A German Shepherd refused to leave the side of her Pit Bull buddy who’d probably been killed by a car on a busy New Jersey highway.

When Totowa Station troopers responded to a call during rush hour yesterday morning about two dogs on the shoulder of Interstate 280, they found the German Shepherd lying beside the Pit Bull — and she wasn’t about to budge.

The troopers “knew they had to get the Shepherd off the highway, but she did not want to leave the other dog’s side,” the New Jersey State Police said in a statement on its Facebook page. “They eventually were able to get her out of harm’s way and into the back of a troop car.”

Back at the station, the troopers gave the German Shepherd water and played a game of fetch with her. An unidentified local animal rescue shelter has taken her in.

“We are deeply saddened by the passing of the other dog, but we’re elated that we were able to rescue the Shepherd,” the statement said. Thank you, troopers!

According to a comment on the New Jersey State Police Facebook page, the German Shepherd was microchipped and has been reunited with her owner.

If it’s true that this devoted dog is back at home, hopefully her owner will ensure she never ends up on a busy highway again. This is not the first and won’t be the last true tale of how amazingly loyal dogs are, in life and death, to their four-legged and two-legged companions.

Photo via New Jersey State Police Facebook page

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