7 years ago my mother, cousin and I were driving from Colorado to Texas and we got lost in the middle of no-where(Dale,Tx). My mom was driving and I was staring out the passenger window. All the sudden my mother gasps. She said she saw a dead cat on the side of the road and when she drove past it she looked in the side mirror and saw it raise it's head. She told me and I made her turn around. We were on a freeway so we had to exit and loop around. The first time we didn't exit far enough back and I made her loop around again. The "cat" had moved from where it was when she saw it to the shade of an overpass, about 30 feet away. With our car pulled over on the narrow shoulder I got out and crossed the oddly busy (with nothing but 18 wheelers) freeway. As I got close to the animal I called to it so it wouldn't be startled when I walked up on it. I called "kitty, kitty" and the creature lifted its head as it was lying down. When it did I knew then it was no cat. I couldn't tell what it was and my brain started to go through images of any possible wild animal that it could possibly be. As I inched closer I feared that it might be a wild animal and that I might scare it into darting into the path of traffic. I was now about 10 feet away and the animal stood up and I could tell then it was a small dog!! I had brought a cotton washcloth, that was in the car for some reason, in case there was any blood or anything. I rubbed my hands all over it and tossed it in front of the dog, hoping it could smell my scent. It sniffed it as I moved closer. I waited for the next 18 wheeler to pass and then I quickly swooped up the dog. I got back to the car and exclaimed "it's a dog!". My mom's response:" Oh my God!". I checked to see the gender and thought it was female. We used her on-star to find the closest vet. Found one and took the poor thing there. Turns out it was a boy... Tons of hair hid "it" it from me upon my initial inspection. He had a gash on his forehead that appeared it had recently happened. He was covered from head to toe in the most fleas and ticks imaginable. The vet examined him, determined he was about 7 months old, doctored the wound and dipped him to kill the hundreds of parasites. We left our info with the vet in case anyone contacted them for their lost dog. We bought a collar and leash from the vet and left with the little pup. As I made our way to the car I set him down so he could walk and he freaked out on the leash, thrashing everywhere. I quickly picked him up and then he was fine. The next few days he continued to not act right. Most of his time involved laying on a pillow in my lap. He even wet himself while laying on the pillow in my lap. Then he ripped into the trash of the house we were staying at. I was there for a wedding and we then stayed in a hotel. While at the wedding the pup managed to get up on the bathroom counter where he left a poop present for when I returned 💩. My mom was not going to let me keep him so I was trying to get someone in my family to take him. Most of the while I was thinking to myself that I WAS going to keep him no matter what she said ;) . Do jump forward a few days and he's at home with me back in Colorado, a new brother to my beagle Daphne and my brown tiger kitty, Frodo. He started acting more normal and Daphne accepted him without incident, which was odd for her. After a struggle for finding the perfect name, talking with family and even searching names on the Internet, I named him Pippin after the Hobbit. I thought it got him and it felt right calling him that. (Although the name suggested that I considered was Shadow because he followed me right behind where ever I walked.. And so soon after finding him. He bonded to me fast. Perhaps it was because I nursed him back... My guess is he was struck by a car and might have even had slight brain swelling, which would explain the bizarre behavior in the beginning. Much later I discovered he may have had a broken rib too as you can feel a displaced rib on his right side. So that is the story of how Pippin came into my life. Lucky for me, no one ever called that vet looking for him. He has been and still is the most loving and affectionate dog I've ever known. With both Frodo and now Daphne gone this year, he is all I have left. I love my little boy. ❤
