Very often, dogs with disabilities go unadopted throughout their lives. When a farmer’s dog had a litter of puppies, it looked like the one with a misshapen leg would never find a home. But then something amazing happened.
It all began when the farmer came home one day to a surprise.
He had left that morning without his dog, Dolly, as she was acting lazy. She had been gaining weight recently. The farmer was worried about her, but his work was more important.
But when he opened the door at the end of the day, there wasn’t just Dolly at home.
There were four tiny puppies around Dolly. The farmer smiled. Suddenly, the reason for the dog’s weight gain and laziness was obvious.
He pet Dolly, telling her that she was a good girl. He looked at all of her puppies. The farmer wasn’t a sentimental kind of person, but even he was overcome with how adorable the dogs were.
But then he noticed something on one of the puppies.
He picked the animal up and stared at it. One of its legs was tiny. It sort of curled down along its body and stopped way shorter than the other legs. He realized that this dog was going to have a hard life.
Still, the farmer helped Dolly raise the puppies over the next few months.
Eventually, the day came for the puppies to find homes of their own.
Instead of going onto Craigslist or even Facebook, the farmer nailed a sign advertising the puppies as being for sale on a post at the end of his yard.
The farmer hadn’t even finished nailing the sign to the post when he felt a tugging at his shirt.
He looked behind him and saw a little boy.
“Mister, I want to buy one of your puppies,” the boy said.
The farmer explained that the puppies’ parents were pedigree dogs and therefore cost a lot of money.
The kid looked at the change that he had. He asked if the pennies in his pocket were enough to take a look.
“Sure,” replied the farmer. He then called for Dolly. She ran out of the house, with three of her puppies in tow.
The boy was amazed at the little doggies.
He pressed his face up against the farmer’s fence, trying to get closer to them.
All of the puppies ran up to the boy, saying hi to him. But something distracted the boy.
The fourth puppy, the one with the deformed leg, limped out of the house.
It made its way up to the fence as fast as it could.
The boy’s eyes were now fixed on this deformed dog.
“I want that one,” the boy said, with a strong conviction to his voice. He was pointing at the deformed puppy, who had just managed to reach the fence.
The farmer laughed and shook his head. He said to the boy “Son, you don’t want that puppy. He will never be able to run and play with you like these other dogs would.”
But the boy had a surprise in store for the farmer.
He reached to the bottom of his trousers and rolled one of the legs up.
Soon he had revealed metal leg braces that ran up past his knees. The boy looked at the farmer. “I don’t run too well myself,” the boy responded.
The farmer was touched. He saw that the puppy and the boy would have a special, unique connection.
He reached down and picked the deformed puppy up.
The little boy held his hands out, and the farmer handed the animal over.
“How much?” the boy asked.
“No charge. There’s no charge for love.”
The boy thanked the farmer and walked home with his new best friend in his arms.
If only all people could show such affection for dogs who look different from “normal” ones!