This weekend, we took home a mange-y dog we found at the dump.

How did this happen?  I’m so glad you asked!

We spent the weekend at my parents’ farm in Eastman, and on our way out of town (and on our way to hike a trail in Macon), we stopped by the dump to drop off our trash.

Now, we stop by this dump every time we’re in town to do this exact thing.  And I am telling you the truth when I say we have never, ever, ever seen a dog there.  This is not a place where dogs are hanging out all the time or anything.

But on Sunday, this dog was there.

He obviously had mange.  But he also obviously was…sweet.  He walked right up to us.  He wasn’t terribly scared of us. He wasn’t mean.

He was just…alone.  At the dump.

And it turns out — for me — when I see a mange-y pup at the dump, I pick it up and put it in my car.

When I did that, Alice cried literal tears of joy.  She’s been begging for a puppy for a year, and the fact that I picked up this gross-looking one from the trash didn’t matter to her.  To her, it was a puppy!  And it was ours!

I told the kids not to get attached, because we didn’t know how bad off he was, or what his deal was.  And that all I could truly promise them was that we would make sure he was safe and taken care of.

They said okay.

And then they named him Finn.

And instead of stopping at our planned Macon hike, we just drove him straight to the UGA Emergency Vet Clinic, where they told us he was okay for us to take home and take to our vet the next morning when they opened.

So Kevin set him up in our shed that night, in a comfy dog bed, next to a space heater.

He was scared.  And he wouldn’t eat the food we set out for him.  But he stayed there in that bed all night.

And on Monday morning, Kevin took him straight to our vet.

And our vet had a bunch of UGA veterinary students there, who were ecstatic to see this rescued dog.

And here’s why:

He’s 8 months old.  The only issue he has is the mange, and it’s the non-contagious kind.  He has no heartworm, or any other issue.  He has a wonky leg, but because it doesn’t seem to bother him, they aren’t concerned.  They think he’s a dachshund-jack russell mix.  He’s 11 pounds.  He’s the sweetest dog in the word.  They said this is a dog that needed to be rescued.

We’re gonna keep him.

So for now, we give him special baths every other day, and he gets medicine two times a day for the mange.  We already think he’s cute, but we can’t wait to see how adorable he will be when he’s all fixed up!

In the meantime, life this week has been…pretty awesome.

Huck has been WAY better than I expected, and has been great with him.  We have them both sleep in the sunroom at night, and we think Finn likes that Huck is out there with him.  Huck is annoyed that Finn exists, but he also obviously takes care of him.  We think Huck is the grumpy old man that doesn’t want to admit he secretly likes Finn.

Alice adores Finn.  She has written him notes, drawn him pictures, and plays Barbies next to him so he can see her.

Tom LOVES Finn.  He has always wanted a dog that would truly play with him, and watching Finn come out of his shell with Tom has been the best!  They play, they chase, they do pretty much everything together.  It’s the cutest thing ever.

And Finn?  Well, he started off not eating or leaving his bed.  He started off with his tail tucked between his legs, and shaking in fear.

And in these few short days, he has just…blossomed!

He’s eating his puppy food.  He has found different sleep spots.  He’s good about going potty outside.  He’s conquered some of our short steps around here.  He’s been on a walk on a leash.

He plays!  He wags his tail!  He’s learning his name!

It’s just all so very…great.

We can’t wait to see what’s in store for Finn.

We love this little dump dog.  And we’re so glad he found us.

The first day we had him.

Brothers.

With his favorite toy.

Love notes.

Reading to him.

He clearly has a death wish. (That’s Huck’s chair!)

LOVE.