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A 1,700-mile drive for a dog with spina bifida
Jack was born with spina bifida, and his start was rough. Someone left him in a box in a parking lot outside a vet's office, with no medicine and no diapers. more
A rescue stepped up when nobody else would. Wendy, who lives in Oregon, first saw him on Instagram. "There's just something about his eyes," she says. They're pale and clear in a white face with a pink nose, and from that first look she knew she was meant to love him.
His rescue was in Philadelphia, so the two sides met partway. Wendy and her family drove about 1,700 miles to Omaha, Nebraska, and Jack's foster parent came out to meet them. She was crying the moment she saw him. Wendy had two other dogs at the time, and all three got along right away.
They took four nights to get home so nobody sat in the car too long. On the fifth day Jack went straight to the bed Wendy had guessed he would pick. He plopped down like he'd been there his whole life.
SaveHe gets around the house well now, after a lot of physical therapy and strength training. The family hikes often. Jack gets excited about his wheelchair, but the backpack is a bigger thrill, with a whole new view. Up there he rests his paws on Wendy's shoulder and likes to style her hair or nuzzle into her neck.
He has opinions about her leaving, too. If she's getting ready for work, he steals whatever clothes he can grab and runs off with them. "He would live in my skin if he could," Wendy says. His own outfits aren't for show, since he sunburns easily and can chafe in his wheelchair.
Not everyone is kind. Some people tell Wendy she shouldn't have a dog like that, or that she did this to him and that being alive makes him suffer. She tries to stay calm and explain, mostly for Jack, because he can tell when someone is laughing at him. "I just wish people would look at the joy on his face," she says.
Wendy says Jack has no idea he is different. He just wants to be a dog, and up in that backpack with his nose in her hair, he gets to be one.
