Tag: white German Shepherd

Little Girl without Feet Gets Puppy Missing a Paw

Other breeders advised Karen Riddle of Greenville, S.C., to euthanize a white German Shepherd puppy who was born without a right front paw.

No way. Riddle realized the 9-week-old puppy would be the perfect companion for a child with a disability — and she was right.

“I decided to call Shriners Hospital for Children,” Riddle told GreenvilleOnline. One of its patients happened to be 3-year-old Sapphyre Johnson, who had been born with a birth defect that left her without some toes and fingers. She had been at the hospital since she was 3 months old, undergoing multiple surgeries.

“They don’t know what caused it,” Sapphyre’s mom, Ashley Johnson, told GreenvilleOnline. “But she had just two really long toes on each foot. And when she was 1, we had them amputated so she could be fitted for prosthetics.”

When Sapphyre was shown a picture of the puppy, “she looked at it for a moment, and she said, ‘That’s my puppy. He’s just like me,'” Shriners child life specialist Elaine Hardin told GreenvilleOnline. “In the future, I could see Sapphy at her first show-and-tell in school, and she could bring in her dog and explain about her dog and herself. Everybody loves dogs, and they’ll want to know about her dog that’s special like her.”

On Monday, Sapphyre was able to leave the hospital for her home in Tennessee with new prosthetic legs and the new puppy, who will be her therapy dog. The Johnson family named him Lt. Dan, after the character in “Forrest Gump” who loses his legs in the Vietnam War.

“It was awesome yesterday,” Riddle told ABC News Tuesday. “We said, ‘Sapphyre show him your feet,’ and, oh boy, she threw off her prosthetics and her socks, and said, ‘Look!’ Then Lt. Dan put his paw up at the exact same time.”

Ashley Johnson told GreenvilleOnline she thought what Riddle had done was “wonderful.”

Also wonderful: Shriners Hospital for Children, which made Sapphyre’s prosthetic legs, has promised to make a prosthetic paw for Lt. Dan when he’s fully grown.

Photo via Twitter

Illinois Tornado Victim’s Missing Dog Reunited with Family

After the deadly EF-4 tornado struck Fairdale, Ill., Thursday, Missy, a white German Shepherd belonging to one of the disaster’s two victims, Geraldine “Geri” Schultz, was nowhere to be found.

“This man has lost everything,” Sue Frazier, the daughter of Geri and her husband, Clem Schultz, told the Chicago Tribune Saturday morning. “He lost his home. He lost his wife. He needs to find his dog.”

As Geri’s grieving family was speaking to reporters, they received a phone call. A utility worker driving down a road had seen what he first thought was a white shadow in a field. Then he realized it was a dog. Could it be Missy?

It was. But she was still so traumatized from the storm that she took off running when the Schultz family approached her. Schultz’s grandson, Tyler Rowan, told NBC Chicago the family chased her for over 2 miles until they were finally able to catch her.

And ever since that moment, Clem hasn’t let go of her, Rowan said.

“We are all happy she is home! Bless you all and we are all forever grateful for your help!” read a status update Saturday on the Facebook page The Search for Missy, which was created Friday in hopes that someone would find her.

The Facebook pages Fairdale and Rochelle Illinois Pet Recovery and Dekalb and Surrounding Areas Tornadoes Lost and Found Pets — NDARTT have been created to help other pet parents reunite with their missing four-legged family members.

Anyone interested in fostering a found pet is asked to contact Traci Ann at the Kirkland Fire Department.

“I miss my grandma so much and I would like to thank everyone helping with finding Missy and donations for my grandpa, Clem,” wrote another of Schultz’s grandsons, Dustin Pierce, on the NDARTT Facebook page.

“His dog Missy and my grandma’s Pomeranian, Buddy, are all my grandpa has left to feel close to my grandmother.”

Photos via Facebook

Exit mobile version