Mulligan is my 3 legged golden retriever rescue puppy. She was born the runt of the litter, with a deformed front leg. Her birth mom rejected her, and her breeder didn’t think she'd live or have much of a life so he brought her to the animal hospital to be put down at two days old.
Lucky for Mulligan (and for me) the girls at the hospital and one very kind veterinarian thought the puppy deserved a chance to live and offered to take her in to see if they could nurse her back to health.
Mulligan struggled at first as she was half the size of her littermates. But over time she became stronger and stronger. She was fostered by her veterinarian at night and she spent her days at the clinic socializing and playing with all the pups and people there.
At 9 weeks old she was strong enough to handle the surgery of having her front right leg amputated. The next day she was hopping around chasing the big dogs. Two weeks later she was ready to come home.
I adopted her sight unseen. My sister was one of the girls at the Animal Hospital who saved her. She emailed me that day, "We have a tiny little golden puppy, I don’t know if she'll make it though"... I followed her story; I had just gone through a divorce and lost a dog. I knew what it felt like to be thrown away. My other dog Morgan was missing her pal. We needed Mully as much as she needed us.
We were in two different states, but that didn’t stop us. Mulligan flew from Buffalo, NY to Nashville, TN by herself. The airline treated her like royalty — last one on, first one off. I was told the pilot announced over the loud speaker that they were flying with a very special passenger. He told a little about her rescue story and surgery and all the passengers clapped for her!
I named her
Mulligan, it means second chance.
Mulligan is now 4 years old, a happy healthy little golden retriever, full of life, ball crazy with a heart of gold. Mulligan taught me about unconditional love and being proud of who you are no matter what your flaws may be. Sometimes I wonder who rescued who.
My Etsy shop (
art4milkbones) is dog themed, I add photos of my dogs to my Etsy listings when I have an extra spot or it's golden related. I get so many sweet comments about Mully & Morgan from my customers or sometimes strangers just convo me and say "Mully makes me smile!" or they want to tell me about their dog. I have met some wonderful dog people through Etsy.
If you're thinking about adding a canine companion to your family please consider adopting a handicapped or special needs pet. All dogs deserve a great home.
... and sometimes it's the things that aren't perfect.. that turn out to be the most perfect of all!
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