One cold October morning, Aunt Mel heard a little dog barking while she was feeding the horses. She looked around and spied a little brown dog staring at her from the rental house next door. The dog barked for a while but no one came out of the house to check on it.

During the next few days, the little dog barked when Aunt Mel was working in the yard. Aunt Mel started to wonder if anyone was still living in the house? Surely they wouldn’t move and leave their dog behind?

A few more days passed, it was clear the house was empty. It had been over a week, cold and rainy. The little dog still barked at Aunt Mel. Aunt Mel got in her truck and drove over to the house.

The people were long gone and had trashed the house; removing screens, breaking the porch rails, toys and household garbage was left strewn across the yard. Aunt Mel tiptoed to the back of the house and found the little dog.

The people had constructed a 3 x 3’ cage out of chicken wire and broken bits of wood. It had no roof, and inside, no shelter. There was no bowl for water or food, just the little brown dog fearfully scrunched in the far corner. He was shaking and very thin.

Aunt Mel broke the door and the little dog bolted into her arms. She drove straight to the vet’s office.

The vet determined that the dog was about 6 months old. He was malnourished and only weighed 8 lbs. He should have weighed three times that. The puppy was carefully examined and found healthy except for the obvious neglect. He was given necessary shots and a bag of good puppy food. When paying the vet for their services, they asked “what’s the puppy’s name?”

Aunt Mel answered without hesitation, “Lucky!”

Lucky had a new home at Aunt Mel’s farm. In a few months, he had grown to a normal weight for his age. For a dog raised outside with little human contact or training, he immediately took to living inside and sleeping in bed with Aunt Mel.

He is still fearful of children and strangers. But once he meets you, you are a friend for life. He never forgets someone he meets. It is remarkable that someone left him in a cage without food or water. Luck was certainly on Lucky’s side when Aunt Mel rescued him from the horrible, little cage.