After getting to the scene of the accident we were shocked to see a mother dog walking eagerly next to her hurt pup. Her eyes were wide with fear and she let out a scream that went straight into the air. It was a desperate and begging voice .It was like she knew something terrible was happening and needed our help. It wasn’t the normal growling or barking that we hear from moms who are watching out for their kids. It was different. She looked like she knew her child needed help but there was nothing she could do to save him. They were both so sad.
We carefully walked up to him because we didn’t want to scare him any more. She looked back and forth between us and her dog as if she were trying to tell us what was wrong. Four other small puppies were close but they didn’t know what was going on. This one she was hovering over was in big trouble.
He had two deep wounds and was very weak and frail. It was clear that he needed medical help right away. Mom didn’t move or flinch when we slowly picked toggle up to take her to the ambulance. Instead she watched her baby’s every move with her eyes never leaving it. We heard her softly whispering, as if she begged us not to take her away. But she knew we were there to help her.
We were sad to leave her behind, but she had to take care of four other dogs, so we knew she couldn’t come with us. We looked back and hoped in silence that she understood that we would do everything we could to save her and bring her back to us.
The puppy whom we later named Toggle was very brave even though he must have been in a lot of pain. She didn’t fight or cry during her first visit to the doctor. Even as they carefully cleaned and bandaged her cuts. That is how it was. He knew we were trying to help.
His wounds were very bad and we treated them with great care but there was something else that worried us. The switch wouldn’t move. He was hurt very badly, and the doctor was worried that nerve damage might happen. Toggle lay still for several days unable to move and we were afraid the worst.
We spent time with Toggle every day by sitting with him and calming him down in a soft way.
In his own calm way he bowed his head and looked into our eyes with trusting eyes. His strength was amazing but we could see how much worse the injuries were for his small body. It scared us to think that he might not be able to walk again. In the middle of everything we couldn’t get rid of the thought of her mother’s desperate cry as we took her away. His only wish was for us to bring him back to her healthy and safe. We couldn’t let him down because he trusted us.
For a few weeks things got better for Toggle little by little. It began with small steps like moving his hands a little as he tried to stand up. We were happy with every little victory because we knew it brought us one step closer to reuniting him with his family. Throughout those hard times she always felt loved and cared for. He was never left alone. There were always gentle words and kind hands around him. Her once weak spirit started to shine and as soon as we walked into the room she started to choke. This was a small but hopeful sign that her mental wounds were also healing.
The day we’ve all been waiting for finally came. Toggle was able to stand up after being unable to do so for a few weeks. He was shaking at first and his steps were slow but he was moving. He was still weak but the nerves had healed .And we knew it was only a matter of time before he got stronger again. As we watched him take his first steps tears of joy filled the room. That’s when we knew it was time to take him home.
He was excited and hopeful on the way back to his family. We were curious about what his mother would do and if she would still know him after all this time. But as soon as we got there our worries went away.
Toggle’s mother came right away when we opened the van door. She put her nose right on top of him and sniffed quickly as if she wanted to be sure it was really him. As soon as she noticed it was her baby, she whispered softly to calm it down and started licking it all over while her tail was wagging nonstop.
Just before we left we took one last look back and saw Toggle standing next to his mother. His little body was finally at ease knowing that his family loved him. In a moving way it showed how powerful a mother’s love is and how compassion and kindness can heal deep scars.
