Baltic being rescued
The dog that became a celebrity after floating 75 miles down Poland’s Vistula River into the Baltic Sea will make his new home with the crewman who rescued him.
After Baltic’s rescue, six people came forward claiming to be his original owner, but Baltic, despite being a friendly dog, showed no signs of recognition toward any of them.
So Adam Buczynski, the ship’s mechanic who pulled the shivering, frightened dog from the ice floe, has adopted Baltic as his own.
Cheers to Baltic and Mr. Buczynski, and may they have many happy years together.
Puzzle from Dogstuff
Merry Christmas, Dogblog friends! All of us at Dogstuff wish you a wonderful holiday season.
One family in Tupelo is especially thankful this Christmas. Their 16-year-old dog, Nick, who is both blind and deaf, is back home after disappearing on December 5.
Nick, a Westie/teacup poodle mix, is actually named for St. Nicholas, because Brian and Debra Hill got him just before Christmas one year, and he was in their wedding the following December.
When he didn’t come back from a trip outside, the Hills and their daughter Lauren searched everywhere, knocking on neighbors’ doors, combing the woods, and walking, biking, and driving through surrounding neighborhoods.
They had given him up for lost, taken their Christmas picture without him, and bought a commemorative ornament. And then, a week and a half after Nick went missing, a woman tapped on their door to ask if they were looking for a little gray dog. She had found him in a ditch on the side of the road, cleaned him up, and given him to a friend, who still had him.
Nick’s spending lots of time sleeping and being pampered since his return home, and the Hills are grateful to the women who took care of him.
This year has been a tough one for most of us; may we all have things to celebrate, all the same.
Buddy went from 35 pounds to 19 during his ordeal
Nobody’s sure how he managed it, but he did, and now Buddy’s back home. NBC News has the details on the beagle’s story of survival.
Melissa Joseph and Baxter
Please read Janet Kinosian’s beautiful post about Baxter, a certified therapy dog. At 19.5 years, Baxter was the world’s oldest therapy dog, working — at the end of his own life — with end-of-life patients at a hospice.
This video shows Baxter with some of his patients:
A book about Baxter will raise money for various rescue charities. Baxter died not long ago, but even in death he will bring comfort to others.
Koda with rescuers
When a young family went camping in the rough terrain of the Yukon, they encountered a yellow dog with porcupine quills in its face. They helped pull the quills out, little knowing that the dog would soon repay their kindness beyond measure.
Not long after, as they set up camp, their two-year-old boy disappeared into the heavy brush. When search-and-rescue teams finally found him, nearly 25 hours later, the dog, Koda, was still with him.
Searchers said it was remarkable that the boy, dressed only in a T-shirt, had survived overnight without going into hypothermia, and that Koda had doubtless helped him stay warm and calm.
Koda’s owner, who had been one of the searchers, said that she had rescued the dog from the streets several months earlier. Koda was clearly “meant to be there at that time,” she said, and so she gave him to the boy’s family.
Koda will no doubt spend the rest of his life a most beloved pet.
Card from Dogstuff
A woman shares fond reminiscences of a special Golden Retriever who touched the lives of all she met.
Kujo escaped with only minor injuries
Kujo, a 120-pound Presa Canario, went under his family’s deck to get away from a storm. But he broke through a piece of rotting plywood and fell 30 feet down an abandoned well. After several hours, and a lot of teamwork, he was safe above ground again.
MSNBC has the rest of the story, including video.
