I"m One Lucky Dog

I was about four years old when I found myself in a kill shelter in southeast Kentucky. Why, I don’t know. I was a totally well-behaved gentleman. Luckily, on the day before my scheduled “day” (you all know what I’m talking about here), a nice lady came and pulled me from the shelter. She knew a good dog when she saw one. She took me to her shelter, where there were about 40 dogs. It was much better than that nasty kill shelter, but, you see, I only have three feet. I was born that way. And with all those dogs running around, I was getting knocked off balance a lot. So I learned to stay away from all the ruckus. You could stay that I was aloof.
Anyway, my foster mom put my picture up on the Internet (the picture where I look sort of unhappy). And then I waited. And waited. Two whole years went by before my soon-to-be Mama saw me on the Internet and fell in love. She came all the way to Kentucky from New Jersey to get me. I did a bit of that aloof stuff at first, because I didn’t know then that she was going to be my furever Mama. But she put me in her car (it only took a few chicken treats to make me realize this was a good idea), and we drove back to New Jersey together. It was the start of a wonderful life. My Mama clearly loved me, and I gave up on all that aloof stuff and became totally attached to her.
I could hop around pretty good on my three feet, but my Mama thought I could do better if I had four feet. So she found a place called OrthoPets who makes new feet for dogs who have lost theirs or, like me, who were born without a foot. They made me a new “foot”, and with a little practice, I learned to get around like a real dog. I could run and everything, and I can go to the dog park and not be intimidated by all the dogs with four feet. (Don’t I look great with my “foot”?) My Mama must have really loved me to go to all the trouble of getting me my own new foot.
In fact, she says that I inspired her to write a novel. It’s called One Dog Night and features me as the leading character. I don’t know much about novels, but my face is on the cover, so it must be pretty good. (You can find it on Amazon if you want to read more about me.)
It’s been almost six years now since my Mama came and made me her own, and my face is getting gray. But it’s been the best six years of my life. I am thankful every day that my Mama found me on the Internet and fell in love.