Ever wonder if karma plays a role in life?  You know, do something bad and something bad will happen to you.

Take, for instance, yesterday. I knew I needed to clean out the turd-laden kitty litter box but put it off. Later, when it was time to feed the kids (Bo, Copper and Logan), I came upon a nice wet poo of the feline variety. Moose sat in the corner with a look that said, “Take that!”

When I went to throw the kitty litter box into the garbage bag, I misjudged it and dumped the whole shebang on the floor.  Hey, I had it coming.

So I was happy to see that it goes the other way too.

What follows is a touching tale of a lost dog, a found family and karmic payback.

PORT TAMPA, Fla. — Yolanda Segovia heard a knock on her door one morning, just before 8 a.m.

Her neighbor was on the porch, with a dog and a story.

Stacey Savige had found the little dog in front of an elementary school. He wasn’t very big, looked like some sort of terrier. Burrs clung to his belly. His honey fur was caked in mud.

He didn’t have a collar. Stacey had taken him to the vet and he didn’t have a chip, either.

Now Stacey had to go to work. Could Yolanda keep him?

“You can leave the dog here,” Yolanda told Stacey. “But just for today.”

They took photos of the dog and made a FOUND flier. Stacey ran off 4,000 color copies. She and Yolanda stuffed mailboxes, put ads on Craigslist.

Yolanda took her boys to the dollar store and bought a collar, leash, ball and brown bed. Her 10-year-old, Azaiah, decided to call the dog RaeLee, pronounced “Riley.” He said he had heard it on TV. All afternoon, he walked the dog, threw the ball, laughed while the dog licked his face.

“Don’t fall in love with him,” Yolanda kept warning.

Her elder son, Christian, 21, watched through the window. Christian has Down syndrome and an array of other ailments. He has had heart surgery, a kidney transplant. He can’t speak or bathe himself.

That night, when the boys climbed into their bunk beds, the dog dragged his new bed from Yolanda’s living room, down the long hall, into their room.

Four days later, they still had the dog. He was starting to answer to his new name.

He loved roughhousing with Azaiah, knew to be gentle with Christian. He almost never barked.

On Saturday, Azaiah went to his dad’s house. Christian retreated to his room to watch a Barney video. The dog dozed beside him.

Yolanda had just stepped onto her porch to water the plants when the dog flung himself into the screen door, barking madly.

As she opened the door, the dog sprinted across the living room, into the boys’ room.

Yolanda screamed. Christian was slumped over, his body writhing in a seizure, blood streaming from his nose and mouth.

The dog ran to the boy, still yelping. But as soon as Yolanda bent to cradle her son, the dog went silent.

“If he hadn’t come to get me,” Yolanda told Stacey later, “the neurologist said Christian would have choked on his own blood and died.”

Since no one had claimed the dog, Yolanda decided to keep him.

You’ll have to read the rest at this link to find out how this story ends. Let’s just say I could roast marshmallows on my heart right about now.

Photo courtesy of the Associated Press.

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I love a good old fashioned, heartwarming story. Today we have a tale of two dogs, one of which gets injured requiring the support of the other.

The Northern Star has the full story but I’ll give you a quick excerpt of what transpired.

THE miraculous tale of two working dogs from Nymboida reads like a Disney movie.

It’s a story of injury, starvation and mateship between a nine-year-old dog named Buddy and a chocolate kelpie pup called Micky.

The adventure started on Tuesday of last week when the dogs were out on the farm with their owner Ken Tucker, who was fixing fences.

“All of a sudden I looked up and they weren’t there,” Ken said.

“I could hear them barking in the distance so I dare say there was a wild dog fairly close by.”

All Ken usually has to do is whistle and the dogs are back within minutes, but this time they did not return.

By Saturday, after no sign of them, Ken said he had no choice but to give up the search.

It’s believed while chasing the wild dogs, Buddy had become impaled on a stick.

It went straight into his side, preventing him from moving.

Micky the puppy stayed by Buddy’s side for five days, keeping him warm through the frosty nights, and according to South Grafton vet Dr Chris Gough, probably bringing him food.

“If it wasn’t for Micky, Buddy would have almost certainly died,” Dr Gough said.

I urge you to read the whole thing. I love a reading about canine heroes in our midst.

Come on heroes, time to bark up your story.

* Pic is of Dogster member Mocha Bella…a beauty indeed!

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When Bo was younger he used to be a bit of a Houdini, escaping on occasion.  My wife and I would be in a state of panic until he was home safe.  Luckily, Bo’s usual MO was playing in the woods for a few hours and then when he was tired, walking up to our front door and going “woof”.  We’re pretty sure that translates into “Hello, I’m home.  Where’s my treat for coming back?”.

I can’t imagine what the owners of Rocco the beagle had to go through after he disappeared for a long five years. Here’s the heartwarming story.

Rocco, a beagle from Queens, went missing for five years.  When her beagle, Rocco, squeezed himself under the backyard gate and disappeared into the streets of Queens, 5-year-old Natalie Villacis refused to believe – as her parents reluctantly told her – that she would never see the puppy again.

What a horrible ordeal for both puppy and family.

Someone dropped Rocco off as a stray at the Liberty County Animal Control in Hinseville on July 5, supervisor Randy Durrence said.

Last weekend, Rocco came home – after being found in Georgia. The prodigal pooch turned up in a shelter 850 miles away in Hinesville, and by a combination of chance and chip – the one embedded in his back – was reunited with Natalie, now 11, and her family.

This story goes to show the importance of microchipping your friend.

Jorge flew down to Georgia, and though he didn’t quite recognize Rocco, was pleased to see that aside from a scratch on his ear, he was in perfect health.

“I don’t think he recognized me, but I told him I loved him as much as always,” she said. “Rocco seemed a little confused, but happy. He looked at me like, ‘I don’t know who you are, but I love you, too.’ “

I love happy endings!!

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Here’s a story that makes me feel all warm inside. It’s the release of Chocolate from the Meadow Hills Veterinary Center.

If you’re not familiar with the story, Chocolate was a stray on the streets of Pasco, WA where he had sustained two broken front legs.

When Sonia Ayala of Pasco first picked him up, his legs flopped around like broken toothpicks. He stayed in a kennel in her backyard on those cold January days, lying on his belly to keep the weight off his limbs.

He sustained the breaks several months earlier and walked on them untreated while he was a stray north of Pasco. At the time, it wasn’t clear whether any fate other than euthanasia would benefit him.

After Ayala told the [TriCity] Herald how she couldn’t find anyone to help him, the public stepped up to help, donating blankets, collars and toys, offering to adopt him and raising almost $30,000 to pay for his veterinary costs.

He’s now completed his rehab and awaits adoption from one of three families waiting in queue.  Go to the TriCity Herald site for links to a nice gallery of photos as well as a video of Chocolate in action.

What makes this story even better is the support Chocolate received from our very own Dogster.com community. On his ride back from rehab, in a limo, Chocolate lay on a quilted blanket donated by the Dawgs Just Wanna Have Fun group. In addition a basketful of fun stuff was also donated by the team. Just wonderful stuff, folks!!

I do want to give a special bark out to Mary Ann Showalter and Barbara Lambert (the quilter) for helping to organize these efforts and make Chocolate’s life that much better.  Butch and Flecken, if you’re reading this, you are very lucky to have them as owners.

Woof, woof!!

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