Most of the time we hear about puppies being rescued, but older dogs can benefit from it just as much. The story of Toothless proves just that. This is the tremendous bond that formed between Cody Leightenheimer and the dog he gave a second chance… and the life it deserved.
“I was working at a wood flooring factory a couple months after. I had an entire wing, basically, to myself. One day I was staining some custom furniture for my boss’s getaway Florida home when I looked at the other end of the hangar length building to see a little puppy.
I instantly wanted to abandon post and grab the thing for cuddles but I had work to get done. This pup wasn’t having none of that though.
He walked up to me and stared at me with his huge eyes. I pet him and noticed instantly that he was flea covered, matted and not in the best physical shape. As I looked closer I realized that he had a lot of gray around his muzzle, ears and face.” “I thought that I would have to herd him away from doors all day until I could clock out and take him home. The little guy fell asleep on the floor and stayed there all day.”
They took him home and cleaned him up, removing dozens of fleas. A visit to the vet resulted in this list of existing conditions: 1) Stunted growth from malnutrition.
2) Cataracts and one small pupil from blunt force trauma to the head. 3) Ulcers in his stomach causing vomiting. 4) Four oronasal fistulas in his mouth caused by his teeth rotting out of his head.
5) Completely deaf. “After a surgery on the fistulas, a strict medicinal regiment, months of spoiling and a family who loved him as much as two children and then some; Toothless (Nickname added by our Five year old daughter because of her love for How To Train Your Dragon)
Rooster Cogburn was a dashing elderly gentleman in the vein of Sir Ian Mckellen and Christopher Plummer.”
