Scooter, a puppy approximately six months old, was dragging his hind legs behind him along Johnson Creek when some fishermen found him. Most of one leg was already gone, while the other was severely injured.
The Humane Society of Dickson County took Scooter into their care and looked for a veterinarian to treat him. The missing leg appeared to have been chewed off, or perhaps it caught on something. Either way, that limb had to be amputated.
Posting on Facebook, the organization asked for donations to cover Scooter’s medical bills. That’s how retired Sergeant First Class Joshua Ferguson found out about the pooch.
Like Scooter, Ferguson is missing one leg. The veteran lost it in Iraq during the Gulf War when an IED exploded near their truck.
Ferguson considers himself and his peers extremely lucky. Explosives like that often kill most, if not all, of the passengers in a truck, but all five of them survived the attack.
When the veteran learned of Scooter’s story, something drew him to the pup. Ferguson dropped by the animal hospital every day to get to know the canine better.
After the removal of Scooter’s leg, the veteran offered to foster him. Ferguson even performed physical therapy on the pooch to help him regain the use of his remaining hind limb.
Eventually, Ferguson announced that he was keeping Scooter for good. It didn’t really come as a surprise to anyone as he intended to adopt the puppy from the start!
Scooter loves going on walks, chasing ants, and snuggling with his new fur dad. The pair also does yoga together.
Ferguson shares that seeing Scooter running around happily never fails to remind him that each day can still be beautiful. The veteran says that no matter what issues we’re dealing with at the moment, there’s always something positive about the situation if we only look hard enough.
He plans to share the joy that Scooter brings him by having the puppy undergo service or therapy dog training so he can visit amputees at various hospitals. Watch Ferguson and Scooter bonding in the video below:
Source: NewsChannel 5 on YouTube and Humane Society of Dickson County on Facebook