Have you seen the two-legged dog named Faith who walks everywhere on her hind legs? (If not, YouTube has Faith videos galore which you can watch by clicking here. Or visit her website.)
My friend Brenda first introduced me to Faith when she sent me an email with pictures of Faith accompanied by “his” story. (Faith is actually a girl. And belongs to an American family from Edmond, Oklahoma. But there’s a lot of Chinese writing on the pictures in the email. I’m thinking somehow they’ve been passed around a time or two, something got lost in translation somewhere along the line, and Faith the girl dog became Faith the boy dog during the telling and retelling of this amazing dog story.)
Anyway, last week I was reminded of Brenda’s email when the ASPCA sent out one of their weekly updates. Each week in October for Adopt-A-Shelter Dog Month, the ASPCA is going to feature an extraordinary dog. This first week featured Faith.
Faith is a Lab/chow mix who was born with one missing front leg, the other front leg was deformed (and had to be amputated), but her hind legs were fine. The Stringfellow family “rescued” her as a puppy in 2003. (Faith’s mother was actually in the process of killing her because she understood the pup wasn’t fit to fight for life against her other siblings. Which makes it even more remarkable the Stringfellows were willing to take her in. It was clear from the get go that Faith was no normal dog. Her new human family had no way of knowing at the time just what a remarkable dog Faith would prove to be, though.)
How does a dog missing its two front legs get around? She started off by scooting herself, the Stringfellow’s recall, but it was a day being introduced to snow when she was seven weeks old that she displayed her real verve. She sprung up on her hind legs and hopped toward them. At three months she started walking –upright. Which is how she gets around most places now.
Because so many people have been touched by her incredible story, Faith’s been featured in all sorts of newspapers and on various TV shows. When people see how she’s overcome her challenges, they can’t help but be inspired.
Seems to me Faith’s one dog who was named exceptionally well. And who was meant to be rescued.
Courtney Mroch writes about animals great and small in Pets and the harmony and strife that encompasses married life in Marriage. For a full listing of her articles click here.
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