About 11 months ago, my boyfriend and I were on vacation in Mt. Ida, Arkansas. We were looking for a crystal digging place, and as usual I led us in the wrong direction. Little did we know how much one wrong turn would change our lives.

We turned around and were on our way back, when suddenly Shane swerved into the next lane (causing me to hit my head against the window) and then straightened the truck. He said "That was close! There was a tiny dog on the side of the road! Let's go back and check on it." So we turned around and pulled off the side of the road and I saw the little puppy in the grass looking dazed. I was worried that we clipped it, so I jumped out and walked towards it and called it over to me. I realized something was terribly wrong, but it had nothing to do with the close call. As she started to walk over, I noticed how dull and lifeless she was. She didn't wag her tail and she could barely hold her head up. It looked like each step she took was a struggle. When I got close, I realized how bad off she was. The poor baby was completely and utterly emaciated. I could easily count every bone in her tail (and everywhere else on her body). She looked like a skeleton wrapped in a thin layer of skin. And her skin was horrible to...we later learned she had scabies. I picked her up, and I could feel the bumps and scabs that covered her body, and her skin was dry and flaky. She barely had any hair on her because of the condition of her skin. I pulled the back of her neck to check hydration, and it stayed up. What broke my heart was when I picked her up, she feebly tried to lick my face, but could only do it twice before she hung her head and rested.

I had tears in my eyes when I looked at Shane. He looked her over and we couldn't believe the condition she was in. We jumped in the truck and stopped by the store to grab dog food, bowls, and some gentle soap. We got back to our motel room and immediately filled a bowl with water and tried to give it to her. She didn't take any, so I slowly dipped my finger in the water and dropped it on her tongue, a little bit at a time. She lapped at the water a couple times, then fell asleep in my lap. She slept for a long time, and when she woke up we gave her more water and a small handful of food. I knew if we gave her too much food or water it would make her sick, so we slowly fed her and watered her between her naps. I gave her a bath, using very little soap, just enough to clean her up a bit.

The rest of our trip centered around our poor little puppy. We named her Bella because we knew that she would be a beautiful dog when she got better. On our drive home she either slept in my lap or at my feet. Within a couple days her energy levels increased, and she started wagging her tail.

Once we got back home to Florida (about a week later) we went to see the vet. She had gained weight by then, so she looked much better, and she had a lot more energy. The vet told us she had scabies and gave us a special bath to give her once a week, and we dewormed her because she had tapeworm.

We worked hard to help her, and now she just had her 1 year birthday, and she is our beautiful, energetic, loving little Bella girl. She licks us nonstop...I think it's to thank us for saving her. She's always smiling and cuddling, and she loves to play with water and her laser. Shane and I both feel so blessed to have her in our lives. And for once, I'm glad that I am a horrible map reader.

God Bless you.
I have a similar type of story I will post about my ittle kitty, A.C.