He would have never found her if he had followed his regular trail.
Reddit has a lot to offer with over 1,000,000 subreddits for various niche communities. For those of us who adore dogs, the “BeforeNAfterAdoption” subreddit allows rescues and dog owners to express the motivations for their adoptions. Naturally, these images and films are moving and serve as a welcome reminder of why we care about saving animals.
Graham Whatmough, also known as “u/Where The Highway Ends” on Reddit, posted a beautiful video of his dog Willow enjoying the outdoors. Never would you guess that she had such a difficult past before they met. This cheerful, active puppy was once discovered in the woods famished and paralyzed. She had to have run into her rescuer by chance.
A Strange Find in the Woods
Whatmough left his oilfield job four years ago to follow his dream of working as a freelance photographer and videographer. He spends a lot of time outdoors discovering stunning locations. He came across something slightly odd one day while hiking through the woods.
Whatmough always travels through these woods on the same path, but today he decides he needs a different route. He paused to take a picture of some berries he had discovered, but he also spotted something else.
“I took just a couple of steps more and that I saw a fallen tree and an off-white animal laying behind it. I assumed it must be a little deer or a coyote hiding because it wasn’t moving or making any sounds. Then, I saw a pink collar and realized it had been a dog.
Gaining The Woods Pup’s Confidence
The dog initially displayed fear aggression by baring her teeth and growling. Whatmough refrained from approaching her closer than 15 feet out of concern that she would flee. The only sustenance he could provide was a few of the berries he had picked, which he threw her. She devoured the fruit, and to his delight, she even briefly waggled her tail. She rapidly drank the water he provided her from his bottle, so he went back with more after getting some more from his truck.
Considering her willingness to trust, Whatmough thinks she is a dog out of control or lost. She looked only a couple of months old. “I still thought she was just a runaway and was maybe dehydrated and a touch starved. The berries and water made me approach her impatiently and started scratching her nose and she or he really liked it.”
Whatmough observed the woman appeared a little nicer, but the dog didn’t seem to need to move about much. Her back legs must be malfunctioning in some way.
“After she warmed up, I encouraged her to get up and start walking and noticed that, at times, she was walking almost totally on her front legs.” Her back legs appeared to extend from the bottom on both sides. After being trapped in the jungle for a short while, I continued to believe that she might simply be starving and in need of some exercise.
Soon, Whatmough would learn that both of the dog’s back legs were broken, and as a result, had begun to heal improperly. Her condition didn’t look too good.
The Road To Recovery
Whatmough brought the dog to the veterinarian for treatment and x-rays. They determined that she would wish to possess her legs amputated, or she would require expensive, risky surgery. WithinDuring this time, no one said to this poor girl “When the vet started listed my options as an amputation, a really expensive surgery or surrendering her to bylaw where she would presumably be euthanized I made a decision to need care of her a minimum of until I could find someone that was ready to adopt her. As he’d been sharing updates about the dog he found in the woods, people became invested. Whatmough explained that his community assisted in the purchase of surgery through donations. They were ready to come up with $4000 during a single day! That’s how he knew, there was no way he could give this dog up. “After seeing how my community rallied round her with the donations and having her for a couple of days I knew I wouldn’t be ready to give her up.”
He named the forest dog Willow, fittingly. Everyday, Whatmough stretched Willow’s legs and walked her. sometimes when she appeared to struggle, he regretted not getting her surgery. But the brave Willow went through a difficult recovery period. “She also would show some signs of discomfort once I would stretch and pull her back legs but i might always stop then she would let me stretch her some more. She progressively resisted less and fewer and now she doesn’t seem to mind in the least once I really pull hard and work to stretch her.”
A Family That Does Outdoors. Together
Willow didn’t let her experiences turn her off to romping through the woods. She and Whatmough spend all their time together, especially now that he’s employed reception . “I am outside hiking 2-6 hours per day in summer and winter and she or he loves it all. She really loves the snow but after about 4hrs in -30C She started to take action and grabbed her paw from the snow and appeared in the shelter and that i know it’s time to travel back home.” For a dog with formerly broken and malformed back legs, Willow runs like an absolute champ now! Willow and Graham’s story reminds us that each dog is worthwhile , and sometimes fate pushes us into the proper dog’s path. Here’s wishing them a lifetime of happiness together!
