Woman Reunited With Dog After Tornado

Today in Oklahoma thousands of people are beginning to clean up following a massive tornado that destroyed hundreds of homes. Millions of dollars in damage were done and many people have lost all of their belongings, including in many cases pets. However today one woman’s story has been making waves as she brought hope to the entire community.

Barbara Garcia was being interviewed today about how she waited out the storm in her home, during the interview she was very sad to report that she had lost her dog during the storm and hadn’t been able to locate it. Then out of nowhere, in the middle of the live interview, Garcia’s dog came running out of the rubble to greet her.

This is perhaps the greatest news to follow the horrible destruction of the tornado. It is incredibly uncommon for something so heartwarming and happy to happen in the wake of destruction but the story of this woman has absolutely become viral. Nobody else’s story has managed to bring as much cheer and hope to the thousands of people that were affected which makes Garcia’s story absolutely incredibly touching.

If not, well here’s your chance! No, you’re not seeing things – the cat is actually walking the dog. It picks up the dog’s leash and pulls it along – the dog follows, no barking, no struggling, no fighting.

Seventeen seconds in, the dog distracts itself, but the cat gives it a meow and it’s back in line again. They go up the stairs, chill for a short while, look back, and then up they continue, up a couple more flights of stairs ’til they reach the door of their apartment.

Who said cats and dogs don’t get along?!

There have been over a million views of this video on YouTube since it was uploaded in March. The pets’ owner (Dafna Kopelis) says the cat wasn’t trained to do what she did.

How this poor dog got itself stranded on that small piece of floating ice is anyone’s guess. But nevertheless there it was – the only thing between it and the freezing water being that little chunk of ice.

And it was snowing too.

Having being spotted by fishermen on a boat, one of the men went into the water to rescue the dog. The water must have been unbelievably freezing. It looks it.

It looked to be a group effort – there was a rope tied around the rescuer’s waist while he went for the dog. When he got there, he carefully moved the floating ice along with the dog til he got to the boat, then tying a rope around it, it was lifted to safety by the crew.

The dog was later reunited with his doggie pals. Well, they look like his pals owing to their body language – they looked happy to see him, checking on him to see if he was OK. Then they all go off together.

Lucky dog. Compassionate fishermen. The dog might have been in the wrong place, but thanks to the fisherman, it happened at the right time.

A homeless guy ran into some serious trouble health-wise. Couldn’t move to go get the help he desperately needed, didn’t have a phone and where he was was secluded. So he sent his trusty dog
Buddy with a note attached to him (his harness) in the hopes he’d come across someone who’d read it and help.

In the note, it said “Help. Send help. No joke. Cannot walk. Medicine not working. Need doctor.”
With the note attached, Buddy went looking and as luck would have it, a woman who was taking her own dog for a walk noticed him, saw the note and called 911.

The police and ambulance didn’t know where the man was as he hadn’t given his location. They still managed to find him despite that. He was taken to hospital, seen to, discharged and looked after by friends.

It’s invaluable what Buddy did and what a lot of dogs like him do. He tapped into the situation, knew what was up and did what was asked of him – saved a life.

Reporter Toni Yates noticed this poor dog (Cha Cha) was left outside in the bitter cold when she was off to report a story. When she came back some time later, Cha Cha was still there.

Not wanting to leave Cha Cha out in the freezing cold, Toni when on Twitter and tweeted the mayor Cory Booker about it. It was then retweeted by another reporter and other followers.

The result? Booker turned up and helped Cha Cha. Petting the dog, he said what happened was brutal. “This dog is shaking really bad and you just can’t leave your dogs out here on a day like this and go away”.

Booker carried Cha Cha and put her in a police car for warmth. He found out who the owner was and gave him a call. The owner was on a visit and was unaware Cha Cha was stranded outside.

Cha Cha’s also had a puppy but it was safe and warm inside.

It’s great (and a relief) someone noticed her and had the empathy to help ensure her safety.

Schnoodle here (cute name, by the way) is attempting to play the piano…and he’s not doing a bad job. Ok, the piano playing is not that great, but again, he is a dog. He’d give some humans a run for their money in terms of the passion he’s putting into it though. He looks like he’s feeling every single note he’s playing, every vibration. The way he lifts his head, takes one paw off the piano and howls, it looks like he’s expressing his very own version of the blues.

At some points, it would appear he’s reading the music sheet, leaning into it to make sure he gets the notes right.

Schnoodle finishes his expressive art with a woof, then he pauses for a while as if he’s hearing resounding applause from an admiring crowd and is waiting for them to finish clapping.

In the time the video’s been posted on YouTube, it’s had close to 4 million views.

Dog Journeys to Hospital to See Owner

This week a truly heartwarming story has been getting lots of attention. Earlier this week a patient in a hospital in New York received an amazing surprise when he was greeted by a friendly and familiar face at his window, his trusty dog. The man said that he missed his dog but he never expected him to show up at the hospital, but that is exactly what happened.

The dog, Zander, reportedly walked nearly 3 miles from home to the hospital where he somehow managed to find where exactly his owner was staying. Nobody is really sure how it worked out but the dog also apparently crossed multiple busy roads and highways to get to the hostpital.

The story is absolutely amazing and it is clear that both the man and the dog share a very special bond. Zander was reportedly very happy to see his owner once again, and of course the man was happy to see his faithful dog. This is not the first story of its kind either, fairly frequently dogs make absolutely amazing treks through cities to track down their owners. Zander is just another one of those amazing pooches that managed to track down his owner and make him feel just a little bit happier while he was in the hospital.

Maymo’s a cute little dog that has a thing for cabbages that aren’t his for the taking. A lonely cabbage on the kitchen table seems to be calling him name and he’s determined to get his paws on it. He tries his damndest to somehow bring the cabbage nearer so he can clench it, but fails, sliding off the corner of the table a couple of times. Frustrating for him, but so cute to watch!

In one part, all you see is his nose coming at the cabbage at an angle.

Not one to give up easily, Maymo keeps on trying. “Cabbage, you are mine”, he’s probably thinking. Visualise, Maymo. Visualise.

Success! He somehow manages to grab a bite.

The cabbage is still beyond his reach – but a bit closer. So he reaches for it, his face and teeth so close to it. And with one final stretch, he just about grasps it and drags it towards him, quickly disappearing behind the table.

With all that effort, he’s definitely deserving of it.

The last scene cuts to most of the cabbage gone, except for the cabbage hat he’s wearing and the pieces of cabbage scattered on the floor beside him.

He looks innocent, like he did absolutely nothing wrong, like he’s saying, “Who, me?”

The Stevenson family found new purpose when their beloved dog was returned Photo courtesy of Stevenson family.

Belinda Stevenson and her family were dealt two harsh blows. First, the beloved patriarch of the family, Johnny Brooks “Pops” Stevenson died in February of this year. Then, in May, a strong storm took the family’s fence down, allowing “Pops’” beloved Savannah to wander off. The family was heartbroken without their special reminder of the man they loved and missed so much around.

Son Terrell Stevenson, 24, drove from one animal shelter to the next searching for the 3-year old husky. Though he looked frequently, he just couldn’t find her. Then one day three weeks later, he spotted her familiar smile on a Facebook page for Carpathia Paws, an animal rescue. They were trying to find the owners or new owners so the dog wouldn’t have to be put down.

By the time the Stevenson’s contacted Carpathia Paws, their beloved Savannah had been placed with Julie Ogden in West Wood, N.J. She had taken her place with her new owners, sleeping on the foot of the bed, from the very first night and her new family adored her. They could tell she had come from a good home.

Terrell sought out Ogden on Facebook. Ogden agreed to bring Savannah to Georgia in an effort to raise awareness about shelter animals and their fate when their owners cannot be found.

She rolled into town in a caravan of cars, trucks and vans escorted by a dozen or so motorcycles driven by members of the bike group that had bestowed Pops with his nickname. Belinda knelt down and called the dog, which was in minutes surrounded by her first family. It was like getting g a little bit of Pops back.

The loss of Pops and Savannah gave the family a new purpose.

Terrell has decided to follow in his father’s footsteps. He is in the Army, having completed two tours in Iraq. He created the programs for his father’s funeral and relied on his graphics arts background. Now he is enrolled in a graphic arts program at the Savannah College of Art and Design where he will put his gift to work – inspired by Savannah and his dad.

As for Belinda, she saw the events with Savannah as her cue to become more involved in caring for animals, no matter what she has to do. Thanks to Ogden and an 800 mile road trip she made, the family has been reunited with their living reminder of Pops and has found new purpose.

Babies Around Dogs Show Better Health

Today an interesting and exciting news story broke that is absolutely amazing news for anyone with a young child or planning to have a child soon. For years doctors have argued and researchers what sort of affects animals and pets can have on young children and it appears that in most cases having a dog around actually leads to healthier babies.

The reasons for this are numerous but doctors say that the biggest contributor to the overall health is the boosted immune system. Being exposed to pets and in particular dogs leads to a significant boost in an infant’s immune system which means they are substantially less likely to become sick as a young child.

This is absolutely great news for everyone because it is one of the biggest medical breakthroughs in terms of infant care. Many people give away or sell their pets when they’re preparing to have a child because of health concerns and now thanks to this information families will remain together including their pets, even when a newborn is on the way. Doctors are planning a follow up study to determine if breed, age, or other factors have any major affect on the immune system but at this point they are absolutely happy to report that there is such a strong link between pet exposure and overall health.