{"id":20205,"date":"2026-03-11T08:58:47","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T08:58:47","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2026-07-22T21:17:45","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T01:17:45","slug":"spanky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/positive-living\/friends-and-family\/pets\/dogs\/spanky\/","title":{"rendered":"Spanky"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fumbling with my umbrella in one hand and Spanky\u2019s leash in the other, I tried to nudge the front door to my cabin closed with my shoulder. Ow<\/em>. The rain didn\u2019t do much for my usual morning aches and pains, but Spanky needed his walk.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s one of the good things about having a dog, I suppose, especially if you live alone. A dog makes you get up and get going every day. These days, though, Spanky and I were definitely feeling our ages. It took us a while to get moving.<\/p>\n

The rain was coming down in sheets. All of a sudden something made Spanky tug. I lost hold of the wet leash. I reached over and tried to pick it up off the ground. No use. Next thing I knew Spanky was trotting down the road.<\/p>\n

I couldn\u2019t run after him; I was still sore from a fall down the basement steps a couple of days earlier. \u201cSpanky, come back!\u201d I yelled. \u201cYou\u2019re going to get hurt!\u201d That was the last I saw of him. He disappeared into the nearby woods.<\/p>\n

I doubted he\u2019d even heard me yell. At 15, his hearing was nearly as bad as his eyesight. Some days he needed me to lead him to his water bowl.<\/p>\n

He frequently ran into cabinets, the sofa, chairs. He couldn\u2019t even get down off of my bed in the morning without help. What would he do all alone in those woods?<\/p>\n

I limped home, got into my car and drove up and down the road, calling Spanky\u2019s name out the window while the wiper blades slapped out a hard rhythm on the windshield. There was no sign of him.<\/p>\n

I thought back to when I\u2019d found him on a roadside nine years earlier. He was clearly a stray, thin and filthy, dodging cars near a local dairy farm. I pulled over and got out. Close up I saw that his shaggy fur was matted with cow dung and covered with ticks.<\/p>\n

Still, it was love at first sight. This guy needs me, <\/em>I thought.<\/p>\n

I tried luring him to get into the car, but he wouldn\u2019t come. So I went home and got some food to bring back.<\/p>\n

Every day after that, I\u2019d toss him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or a Moon Pie on my way to and from work. And every day at 7:00 a.m. and again at 4:30 p.m., Spanky waited for me at the intersection of Route 52 and Happy Hollow.<\/p>\n

One day I couldn\u2019t stand it any longer. I bought a 16-inch pizza with pepperoni and double cheese. This\u2019ll get his attention<\/em>. I put it on the front passenger seat, stopped at our meeting place and leaned over to push open the door. Spanky jumped right in, and I took him home.<\/p>\n

The vet who checked him out told me that Spanky had been abused. \u201cBut we\u2019ll get him fixed up,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny idea what breed he is?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cLooks like he\u2019s a terrier and sheepdog mix.\u201d I pressed her to be more specific. \u201cThe best I can tell, he\u2019s a TV dog,\u201d she said. \u201cYou know, like the ones you see on TV all the time, but you never know quite what they are. One thing\u2019s for sure, he\u2019s a lucky dog.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maybe. But I was blessed. The Lord had sent me Spanky for a reason\u2013several reasons.<\/p>\n

Spanky never left my side. He was with me while I nursed my broken heart after my marriage of 25 years ended. He understood my wordless grief after both my parents died. I confided in him about everything.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d laughed at the \u201cOver the Hill\u201d party my coworkers threw for me on my 50th birthday, but when I got home it was Spanky I opened up to. \u201cI\u2019m scared of growing old and being all alone,\u201d I\u2019d told him. \u201cDon\u2019t ever leave me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The day I took that tumble down the basement steps, Spanky came running to my side and licked my face.<\/p>\n

Lord, you\u2019ve got to help me find him!<\/em> By afternoon I was losing hope. If a car comes, he\u2019ll never be able to get out of the way in time.<\/em> I knew I should go home, but I couldn\u2019t bear the thought of walking into an empty house. But I knew I couldn\u2019t put it off any longer.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I pulled into my driveway. Once again I begged God to help, this time out loud. \u201cYou gave him to me, Lord. Don\u2019t take him away now.\u201d I walked up to my cabin, feeling more down and alone that I\u2019d ever felt. I\u2019d had so many losses in my life. I didn\u2019t know if I could stand another.<\/p>\n

Just as I closed the door behind me, I heard a noise. Someone\u2019s in the house!<\/em> I held my breath, not daring to move. There was the noise again, a tinny jingling, like the sound a charm bracelet makes when you wave your arm. It got closer. Spanky walked into the room, dragging his leash behind him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been looking all over creation for you!\u201d I cried out, not believing my eyes. Spanky let out a long yawn, then wiped the sleep out of his eyes the way he always did after a nap. I fell to the floor and wrapped my arms around him, burying my face in his shaggy fur.<\/p>\n

Most folks don\u2019t like the smell of a wet dog, but this was the sweetest smell ever.<\/p>\n

Soon, though, I wondered how he got back. How did he get into the house? Maybe I really am over the hill. Maybe I\u2019m losing it, <\/em>I thought. Spanky\u2019s return remained a mystery, but I didn\u2019t question God too much about it. I was just glad to have my dog back safe and sound.<\/p>\n

Then, one night about a month later, a white car turned into my driveway when I was taking out the garbage. I\u2019d never seen it before, but the license plate told me it was a kindred spirit: \u201cLUV YR K9,\u201d it read.<\/p>\n

A lady got out, smiling like we were old friends. \u201cI\u2019ve driven by here so many times. I thought I\u2019d never catch you at home.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh?\u201d I said, curious.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just wanted to make sure your dog was all right,\u201d the lady said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy dog?\u201d Now I was really confused.<\/p>\n

\u201cA while back,\u201d she said, \u201cI saw a dog sniffing around the bushes in my yard. Well, I could tell right away he was lost. So I went out and looked at his tags. And there was your address.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe got right into my car,\u201d she continued. \u201cSoon as I got to your house, he stood straight up in the seat and started barking. He knew he was home.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow did he get in?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou must have left the door open,\u201d she said. \u201cHe went right up to it, pushed it with his nose and went inside. I called out, but no one was there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s because I was looking all over creation for him!\u201d I said. Like me, the lady was always on the lookout for a dog in trouble. Spanky couldn\u2019t have been in better hands. \u201cThank you so much for finding him,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

Yes, there are still those rainy mornings when my joints ache and so do Spanky\u2019s. We start the day slow sometimes, that\u2019s for sure. But I\u2019ve never felt such earthly comfort before as I do from my dog.<\/p>\n

Did I say that Spanky was a stray? That\u2019s not quite true. I think God put Spanky right where he could do the most good\u2013by my side.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fumbling with my umbrella in one hand and Spanky\u2019s leash in the other, I tried to nudge the front door to my cabin closed with my shoulder. Ow. The rain didn\u2019t do much for my usual morning aches and pains, but Spanky needed his walk. That\u2019s one of the good things about having a dog, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":42512,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_bluesky_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[201],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[646],"class_list":["post-20205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dogs"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSpanky - Guideposts Articles<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/positive-living\/friends-and-family\/pets\/dogs\/spanky\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Spanky\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Fumbling with my umbrella in one hand and Spanky\u2019s leash in the other, I tried to nudge the front door to my cabin closed with my shoulder. 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