A very old stray {The Old Fella Story}

[Dixie_Flyer]

Went camping this weekend at a campground on the lake, had not been there for a few years. Once there I began to walk around looking at the different sites when I noticed a very old dog. He just lay there until I got too close then he got up on three legs and hobbled away. Just judging I would say he is at least 11 years old. Well back to my story. The next afternoon he wanders into camp and just sits there looking. He looked so sad, so the wife got a bowl of our dog's food and put it down for him and he came over and ate. He then walked over to our dog and the two of them sniffed each other over and then they lay down together for the rest of the afternoon. That night he disappeared.
The next morning he was back and was a little more receptive of me. I looked at his injured leg and found that half of his rear foot was gone. It had healed and was not causing any problem except that he was walking on the stub that was left with no foot pad which causes him to limp. His front teeth were gone except for one canine tooth and it looked decayed. His eyes were tired looking and showing his age. He spent the rest of the day just laying around looking for a handout and by afternoon the campground host came around and saw him. I enquired about the dog and was told he had been there for three years and that most of the campers were tolerant of him and gave him food.
So what to do? Do you pick him up and bring him home or do you let nature take it course. He can't harm anyone, he has no teeth and he isn't a nuisance unless you don't like dogs, and no one seems to mind him being there. He is gentle and likes other animals as seen by his interaction with our dog. He still would not let me touch him but he would eat from my hand. Enough said, what would you do???

On June 28th 2008 Old Fella passed away of complications caused by bone cancer. Fella spent almost three years with his new family and became the icon of rescued old stray dogs. He will be greatly missed but his foot prints have been left in our hearts forever.

Now Charlie, the ten year old rescued Golden Lab has come to be a part of the continuing Old Fella story. (*Note, Charlie took his journey to Rainbow Bridge unexpectedly September 30, 2008)Suzie continues to charm her way into our hearts with her antics as she has grown from a puppy into a young lady. Togther they will carry on the Old Fella legacy. Come join us in their daily lives and be a part of the best feel good thread in RV.NET history. The legacy lives on.


HIghways Article Puppy Love

Old Fella Burke County Animal Rescue

[Tutorman57]

Thank you all for the warm welcome. I didn't see that coming. At this time were finding ourselves totally petless. Not even a fish, I've always had a fish tank.
Our last dog was Tippy a Mix Terrier/chihuahua/beagle. And my best friend. She would wait everyday at the door with her ball, waiting for me to get home. How I miss that girl.
But we have had the privilege of having our GrandDog for the last 6/7 years staying regularly at our house. And all summer long, Oh ya the 3 grandkids came too. Lol We miss them all as they recently moved to South Carolina. Ya they took the dog...Oh his name is Squirrel he's a mix Mini Black poodle/ chihuahua. An he Loves his Grampa. First thing we did was play ball. He comes flying across the room an leaps into my lap. He thinks he's a flying Squirrel. LOL
I'll be checking on the Tennessee gathering to see if we can make it, I know we would love it.
Again thank you for the welcome.
Jerry

[Dixie_Flyer]

Our pink moon tonight from our patio.

[Dixie_Flyer]

Most beautiful Blue Bird in our yard

[Dandy_Dan]

Good Afternoon Jerry, It is a pleasure to have a new reader of the thread.The DW and I were fortunate to adopt the sister of Richard's Suzie. Of the 5 puppies rescued I have had the pleasure to have met 4 of them. We also had for 7 years another southern belle that Richard provided. Unfortunately she has gone to the Rainbow Bridge. She was a yellow Lab that had been hit by a motor vehicle and left laying along the road for dead. When Richard and Sue got her she had teeth broken, dislocated hip, and many sutures in 3 out of 4 legs. Richard and Sue were presented this animal who spent the rest of the evening in their kitchen. They warmed towels tried to keep her from getting in any deeper shock. Said if she made it through the night we would take her to the vet. The rest is history at least for 7 yea . It had to be a better life than she was having along side the road.

As others have said, all would love to meet you and greet you into the FOOF family. The campgrounds in Sevierville is a nice campgrounds and the owners are excellent. You can see the info on the camping thread. The actual rally is scheduled for a week and quite a few are staying the next week just to bum around and see some sights.
Again Welcome and hope to see you at the rally.

[Dixie_Flyer]

From our back yard

[Martyn]

Welcome Jerry: I know how you feel. 🙂

I was fortunate enough to meet Old Fella, Richard and Sue at the rally we had in Colorado a few years back.

[Dixie_Flyer]

Good morning everyone and welcome Jerry. Why don't you make plans now to join us in Sevierville, Tennessee for the Old Fella Rally. There is plenty of room and the park is so very nice. This thread has been running for twelve years come this September. This has been such a rewarding adventure, so many nice folks here.

All is well here in the Deep South this morning. Izzie, Hobo and Suzie wish everyone a blessed day. I will hook up the camper sometime today and pull it up next to the house to load it for our weekend trip. Give the fur babies a hug for me and be sure to tell someone you love them.

[MetalGator]

Tutorman57 wrote:
It's as if I time warped back into the past.
You see for me, You just got Old Fella a few hours ago. As I read through the story. And fell in love with this dog I never met, and the people that made it happen. But for me Old Fella Just passed away a few minutes ago and I can't see the keyboard clearly.

Welcome to the Old Fella thread! I read the entire thread a couple of years ago and I have started reading through it again from the beginning. I am up to around page 600 now. I totally understand about warped back in time. I dread getting to the part where Fella passes. I can't tell you how many times I have almost responded to a post and then realize the post is almost 10 years old! I have not had the pleasure of meeting these wonderful people on the forum but they are a great bunch and I check in to read almost everyday.

Burch

[dogdiva]

welcome Jerry
Richard and Sue are remarkable kind and caring folks
Glad to meet you and enjoy the thread
We are all pet lovers and enjoy hearing about our pets

[Dashonthedash]

Welcome, Jerry, to the longest running thread in the history of this Forum. We are all friends here, and we all have a love of our furry friends in common. I have rescued several dogs since I started reading this story, including one I found through this thread. I hope you will read the rest of this wonderful story, and join us sometime. This is an amazing group of people.

[SGTJOE]

Welcome Jerry, you're not the only one this story has touched. It has changed the way I see a stray dog. So much so that I have helped rescue a couple of strays at out snowbirding Park in Yuma. The first one was a Yellow Lab digging into the side of the canal, we got closer and realized she was pregnant. We were able to get her in a golf cart and she ended up having 6 puppies in the Park managers mobile home while we waited. 3 lived, 2 males and 1 female. Through our efforts we found a home for the mother and the 2 males ended up together with a pool to play in. The female was adopted by our friends from Canada, her name is Molly and I'm Uncle Joe. This was 7/8 years ago and I see her every year. When we meet up each year she comes running to me and lets out the funniest yelps as she crawls all over me. A few years after that there was another stray hanging around the Park, we finally were able to get him and he now has a forever home also.
Richard has been working on a book, I hope he finishes it soon as I really think it would make a great movie. It just might be as good as Old Yeller.

[Tutorman57]

This is hard for me to wright. I wrote you a note earlier today and told you about my daughter and her family moving to Piedmont.

I have been at this, reading this for several hours. A Thousand pages or so. It's as if I time warped back into the past.
You see for me, You just got Old Fella a few hours ago. As I read through the story. And fell in love with this dog I never met, and the people that made it happen. But for me Old Fella Just passed away a few minutes ago and I can't see the keyboard clearly.
I apologise for even bringing all this up but I'm compelled to let you know how much this meant to me.
Your story and Fella lives on through this forum.
It has touched me deeply in ways I can not express.
I look forward to meeting you someday. If not here then on the other side. What a day that will be.
I'll stop for now as my words do no justice to how I feel right now.
This is my feeble attempt at expressing myself.
Thank You for sharing all of this.
Jerry F.

[Dixie_Flyer]

Good morning everyone. Cutting grass? Dan you must be having a heat wave for the grass to grow? But then snow just the other day. Boy what a climate you live in. The weather can't make up its mind whether to rain, snow, or have Spring.

Yesterday I mowed the lawn for a second time this spring. Sue and I along with Hobo and Suzie will go camping this weekend ay Modoc. My son Scott is coming up with his boat for a day of fishing. I haven't been fishing in a while so it might be fun.

We hope to go to Blakely to visit Robin when we get back from Modoc and then maybe down to the Gulf for some fun in the sun and walking the beaches.

Today I take Hobo to get her nails cut and a check up for her heart condition. She seems to be okay with her meds but just to be on the sage side.

Suzie is doing great. She is such a sweetheart. Yesterday I sat out on the deck with Izzie. I put him up on the table under the umbrella and brushed him. He loves that and is such a ham when he gets some attention. We watched the Blue Birds fly back and forth across the yard. They are such a brilliant blue this year. I have never seen such bright blue colors before. They are busy building nests and raising their young in the houses we provided for them. Then there are the Cardinals. So beautiful with their red feathers. We don't have any Blue Jays however, wonder why?

I have been reading the book Until Tuesday. Yes Dan I have actually been reading it, I am now in chapter ten. It is interesting and holds my attention. Dogs can play such an important role in the lives of the disable. They are amazing in their ability to not only provide service needs to help improve the quality of live, but the love they give is such a blessing. Everyone should have at least one dog in their life that has left a lasting memory of comfort and unconditional love.

Okay I need to get moving so I will close for now wishing everyone a blessed day. Be sure to give the fur babies a hug for me and be to tell someone you love them.

[Dandy_Dan]

Good Morning, Yesterday all the snow was gone and it got up to low 70's so I mowed the lawn. Only got stuck once. We are supposed to be in the low 70's today with rain coming in after supper. We are hoping to go camping the last week in April. Due to circumstances beyond our control we have not been able to go yet this year. Planning on meeting Dan and Patty and will stay a few days. Looking forward to October so we can see all the FOOF's. We hope all have a safe week ahead.

[Dixie_Flyer]

Good morning everyone. This years Master's was one of the best. It was up for grabs all day Sunday with Garcia finally pulling off the win on the first hold of playoff. At one point Rose had it won then let it skip away. Garcia was determined even after making some mistakes on the back nine that could have cost him the Tournament, he still managed to make a come back and win.

I hope everyone had a blessed weekend. It was very nice weather for us. I am looking forward to this week with very warm temps and nights in the high 50's. When I planned our camping trip for this coming weekend I didn't realize it was Easter. This will be the first Easter Sunday we will miss church in ages. I can't remember when we missed an Easter an Sunday not being in church.

The fur gang is well this morning, just got back form their walk. Lily was over early this morning for a visit. She makes herself at home here, I guess she feels as if this is her second home. She will come over when she wants a treat, let me know she is at the door, I let her in and she goes straight to the bedroom where the treats are kept and waits for me. I give her a treat and then she goes to the front door, says thank you now let me out so I can go home.

The neighbors with the baby goats had a scare the other night when we had a storm came trough. Luckily the babies were on the back porch in kennel crates as the pen in the back yard blew away in the strong winds. They were safe and unharmed as the porch offered them the protection they needed. The children have taken very good care of the babies and they are growing up fast.

Okay I need to get moving so I will close for now wishing everyone a blessed day. Be sure to give the fur babies a hug for me and be sure to tell someone you love them.