The Rest of the Story #ThursdayThoughts #RescueDog

Back in February, I started the story of our rescue dog, Amigo. To recap, we’d searched for a rescue dog and heard about a mixed breed with a sad story. After several attempts to make the trip to Gallup, New Mexico to pick him up, we succeeded. Now, here is the rest of the story.

On her way to work each morning, a doggie rescue lady in Gallup, NM, noticed a small dog or puppy living in a culvert with another older dog. They were always there and looked healthy. As it turned out, the homeless people in the area were feeding the pair. These two took care of each other. The older dog was blind, but had his years of experience. The pup was agile and could see. She named them Wylie and Amigo.

Trapped but rescued

She finally asked the agency she volunteered for, The BlackHat Humane Society, if she could attempt a rescue. It wasn’t easy. Wylie, the blind dog, fell for her trap first time. It took her a couple of times to trick Amigo. And she had a tense moment with some homeless men who believed she was going to do the pair harm.

Both dogs were placed in foster care. Wylie was several years old and placed in a home that specialized in blind dogs. Amigo was believed to be between nine months and a year. We learned of Amigo before he was featured on The Black Hat site. Wylie ended up being adopted by his foster mom who fell in love with him. We adopted Amigo and his foster mom cried as we drove away.

Amigo before adoption

From the beginning, Amigo has loved people. I’m guessing because the homeless fed him. He was afraid of other dogs. After a couple of times at the dog park in Payson, he warmed up. Now, he’s the official greeter when he’s there. In the beginning, we had to keep a close eye on him. He chewed through two leashes. His flee instinct was fierce. Although he took to us immediately and seemed to love us, when he got the chance, he’d run. 

That was four months ago. 

Amigo now

Today, he heels on command, comes when called, loves to retrieve sticks from the water, and chases balls and brings them back. He’s loving and good natured. He’s still highly food oriented, but that’s to be expected considering he never knew where his next meal would come from. But that doesn’t pose a problem. He has quite the personality and brings us lots of laughter and enjoyment. We really lucked out with this little guy.