She came to us about 8 years ago. We only had Johnny Ringo then. It was about 3:00 a.m. and he needed to go outside. I let him out of the house and waited for him on the porch. We live in the country but we have a huge fenced front yard so I felt safe waiting for him on the porch. All of a sudden Johnny barked and kind of growled and the hair on the back of his neck stood up. I was scared. I got Johnny back in the house and woke my husband up. He went outside to look around.

When he came back in he said that there was a puppy outside. I went outside and looked over the fence. I saw what looked like a dirt streaked skinny dog. I went back inside the house but I could not get the puppy out of my mind. My husband left for work about 1 and ½ hours later. I stayed awake just thinking. With my husband at work and dawn just around the corner I went back outside. I looked and looked for the puppy. The puppy came to the other side of the fence. What I saw made me want to cry. She was the poorest dog I had ever seen. She was a young dog; maybe four months old, every one of her ribs could be seen. Her stomach seemed concave. I thought that she had dirt all over her but she was a brown and black brindle color. I took a bowl of water outside of the fenced yard. She lapped that up in record time.

It was August in Texas and we were having quite a drought season. I took a bowl of dog food outside the fenced yard. She just gobbled everything down again in record time. For the first time in about six weeks the sky looked as if it was going to rain and rain hard. We had an extra igloo insulated dog house on the porch so I pushed, pulled and dragged it outside of the fenced yard. I set it close to the shed that we had where I had also put the water and food. She sat in the shade the rest of the day just resting, drinking water and eating the food.

My husband came home from work and saw what had gone on while he was gone, the first thing he said to me was “put her inside the yard”. Well she has been there ever since that day in August. I don’t mean “just in the yard”; she has been in our home and our heart. We live in a rural area and it just breaks my heart to see dogs that have been dumped out here. I have seen what looks like whole litters of puppies dumped in our area. It is so sad to see them huddled together scared. In my mind I think that they are thinking “they will come back and get us”. I have rescued quite a few. There are a few things that I hate in this world and one of the things I can’t stand is dog dumpers. I wish I could find out who these people are and report them. This is animal cruelty. My husband and I saved Mattie that August day. She is a wonderful dog.

She was in an accident about 8 months ago. I took her to the vet and told them “I know you can’t save her leg but please save her life”. I blame myself for what happened. Maybe I didn’t close the gate tight enough and she got out. Maybe there was a place in the fence where she could have gotten out, I didn’t find one though. It was horrible. I couldn’t find her for three days. I called and called. I drove the country roads looking for her. I was in the kitchen one day and looked out the side door and there she was, lying down by the fence outside the yard. I called my husband’s friend and he helped me get her to the vet. She is a large dog (about 78 pounds) and I could not have done it without his help.

She is fine now, except for the one missing leg. She stays in the house quite a bit because we love her and she loves us. When she is outside she has the speed of a bullet when she wants to. I don’t want to think of what she went through but she made it back home. She was in tremendous pain but she came home. And I am so happy she did.

Blue from TX