How did Lewis come to be in our lives?  We knew the back half of that question.  We had lost our beloved Scout and wanted another rescue dog in the family.  When we saw the picture below on the Two by Two Rescue (TBTR) website, we had found our dog.  Unfortunately, another family had already applied for adoption, but it turned out Lewis is a little skittish around children, so we were up next.  (In one of the many coincidences in Lewis’ life, the mother in that family was a former colleague of mine with whom I had worked.)  We applied, and Lewis had a new home!  But what about the Coke bottle!  I’ll get to that in a minute.

But as Lewis grew more comfortable in his new home, and well, just grew period, we kept wondering about his early life.  We had heard he belonged to a man who hoarded dogs, some 40 of them, and would take pot shots at them, but we could never confirm that information.

Enter Heather Wyatt and the WONDERFUL volunteers at TBTR.  We called Heather, the Adoption Manager for the organization to see if she had any information on Lewis and his puppyhood.   Did she ever!  TBTR received a call from a lady in a small town just outside of Birmingham.  She said there was a group of dogs living in the area who were apparently wandering around harassing this man’s chickens (I’m sure Lewis wasn’t involved in such behavior.)  The lady reported that the man said if he sees the dogs again, he would shoot them. (Aha, a thread from the original story we had heard).  To prevent the animals from being shot, several of the TBTR volunteers jumped in their cars and headed out.  They drove to the address they had been given but only discovered what looked to be an abandoned home and another home with no signs of occupants except for a few lights on.  The Coke bottle, what about the Coke bottle!!  I’ll get to that in a minute.

TBTR decided to give it one more chance.  It was turning dark, but they were determined to save the dogs if they could.  They pressed on, driving around the neighborhood.  They suddenly spotted this white dog lying by the side of the road.  Their hearts sank at the prospect that they were too late for this little one who perhaps had been run over.  They stopped the car and walked up to the little fellow, hoping but fearing the worst.  As they came closer, they could see it was a white dog.  It was Lewis.

As they bent down to check on him, he jumped up and ran away.  They followed him to an old barn, where they found numerous other abandoned animals living there for shelter, including Lewis who had run to a momma dog with another puppy.  (I guess you could say Lewis helped to save all of the other animals!)  The volunteers gathered them all up and took them back to foster homes eventually.  THE COKE BOTTLE?  It’s coming I promise.

This discussion, this blog, this dog would not be possible were it not for the fabulous volunteers at Two by Two Rescue.  They rescue all kinds of animals – cats and dogs, even horses.  And of course, Lewis.  I urge you to consider TBTR as one of your charity choices.  Your Lewis might be out there waiting for them to rescue him or her.  Hey, the Co….okay, okay.  Here’s the story of the Coke bottle….

After getting all of the animals in their cars, the TBTR folks loaded up and headed back to town.  Tired and thirsty after chasing animals all over the countryside, they stopped at a convenience store to get something to drink.  Ms. Wyatt chose her usual, a Coca-Cola.  It just so happened that at that time, the Coca-Cola company was running a promotion in which they printed people’s names on the bottles.  She opened the door to the cooler and pulled out a bottle.  She looked at the name on the bottle and turned toward the big white puppy sitting in the car and said, “That’s it.  That’s your name.  Lewis!