Dogs or “man’s best friends” have been there with us through wars, struggles, assisting with the disabled, and so many other things. We all hear inspiring stories of individuals with physical disabilities that defy the odds and do incredible things such as climb mountains, and sometimes they have their dog by their side. Our hearts are touched and we feel a little humbled after reading about their determination and struggles they went through to accomplish such a feat.
What if it was the other way around? What if there was a dog that faced some hardship with physical disabilities and accomplished something with their owner by their side? You don’t read or hear of many stories like that. Here’s a heartwarming story about such a dog that climbed Mt. Washington in New Hampshire, the highest peak in the Northeast, with an elevation of 6,288 feet. This is about Lucy, a sweet little wheelchair-bound dog.
When Lucy was just a few months old, she was hit by a car outside a feed store in Puerto Rico. The accident left Lucy’s back legs paralyzed. Most dogs would’ve been put down after such an accident, but Lucy was rescued by the Second Chance Animal Rescue in Puerto Rico where she lived for almost two years before being adopted by her present owner, Courtney Dunning of New Hampshire.
Initially, Lucy had a wheelchair that was custom-made for another dog and didn’t fit her very well. While in a coffee shop one day, Courtney and Lucy met an employee of HandicappedPets.com, an organization that supports special needs pets. Soon after this meeting, Lucy had a new donated set of Walkin’ Wheels which is a special wheelchair designed to adjust to different dogs.
With this new wheelchair, Lucy climbed a small mountain in New Hampshire with Courtney, and a picture was posted on HandicappedPets.com Facebook fan page. This sparked some conversation about Lucy climbing Mt. Washington via the auto road.
Mt. Washington is notorious for its erratic weather and held the record for the highest wind gust measured at the Earth’s surface for quite some time.
Lucy had already been training and running with Dunning, a marathon runner. After a test run in July, Dunning decided Lucy was ready to attempt Mt. Washington.
After six hours, two minutes, 100,320 steps and 7.6 miles, Lucy became the first wheelchair-bound dog to summit Mt. Washington with Dunning by her side.
Lucy may not be fully aware of the great accomplishment she made, but it definitely brings a smile to all of us dog lovers as we know we need to take care of our pets or “kids” as much as they take care of us.
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Comments
That is so cool. Brave dog - and as funny as it sounds - even braver owner for taking on a great pet - even with this disability.
I commend both Dunning and Lucy. What a great accomplishment for Lucy and fortunate for her to have such a caring owner :)
What a neat story to share... There was a three legged dog at my communities pool doggie day and she lost her handicap when she got in the pool... it was really cool to see
I just love animals, especially dogs. I remember seeing a 2-legged dog walking like a human. It was the cutest thing!
As a dog lover, I loved the story and oh how brave to carry on!
I'm amazed at the dog wheelchair? All the other ones I've seen are clunky and not adjustable. This one seems entirely different.
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