Four years ago in the middle of a thunderstorm, Lori Carter opened her front door to go to the grocery store and found a dog cowering in the rain. The poor pup was sick and terrified, his tail tucked between his legs.
“I said, ’Hey, buddy!’ and he came
up on my porch to me,” Carter told The Dodo. “He had a collar on with some frayed poly rope tied to the leash attachment, indicating he had chewed through some sort of tie-up.”
Carter posted about the dog on Facebook to see if anyone was missing him, but based on his condition, she had a feeling he’d escaped a bad situation. Carter lived in a rural area with one humane society covering three different counties, so she knew the best chance the pup had was if she fostered him herself.
“It wasn’t a question,” Carter said. “I was pretty much the only hope this baby had.”
After Carter brought the pup, later named Goofy, inside, she realized his recovery was going to be an uphill battle. He was terrified of people and would pee whenever she made any sudden movements. He was bald, skinny and had wounds all over his body. She tried her best to treat his wounds, but he was so scared that she had to rebuild his trust every time she touched him.
“He was so skinny that he walked and ran kind of goofy, which is why his name is Goofy,” Carter said. “This dog didn’t know how to be a dog, either. He didn’t know what toys were. He never barked or made a single noise. He didn’t jump up on anybody. He just seemed like a shell of a dog.”
As time went on, Carter refused to give up on Goofy. She was working on gaining his trust, but it was incredibly slow going. He refused to go anywhere in the house except the laundry room and spent most of his time huddled up inside an open crate. Carter’s house ran chilly, and she knew the hairless pup had to be cold. He refused to use blankets, so when Carter saw a dog sweater at the store, she bought it on a whim.
She assumed that Goofy would hate the sweater but wanted to give it a try anyway. When she got home and tried to put it on him, he seemed confused and a little scared. Once it was fully on, though, everything changed.
Goofy sniffed at the sweater clothing his body and began to wag his tail. He even accepted pets from Carter while she told him how handsome he was. She got up to go to the kitchen — and was shocked when Goofy followed her. She went from the kitchen to the living room, and he followed her again. He wouldn’t get on the couch, so she made a little bed for him on the floor, and they sat together watching TV and sharing a snack of carrots and cheese.
That was the moment that Goofy started living, and it was all thanks to Carter’s perseverance and a sweater.
“This dog had gone from being afraid to show his personality and just existing to accepting the love I was trying to show him,” Carter said. “After a few weeks and a couple more new sweaters, he began jumping on the couch, sleeping with me in the bed, chewing on his toys and trying to play with my cats. He became a dog. I’m not sure if it’s the warmth or the compression that he loved at first, but he absolutely LOVES his sweaters.”
As Goofy came out of his shell more and more, Carter realized that after everything they’d been through together, there was no way she could let him go. They were meant to find each other, and she officially adopted him.
It’s been four years since Goofy showed up on Carter’s porch, and he’s a completely different dog. He’s now 40 pounds and still thinks he’s a lapdog. His favorite things include lounging in his parents’ recliner, crawling between them in bed, stomping his foot for treats and, of course, wearing his sweaters. A lot of people think Carter forces him to wear them, but it’s actually the opposite.
“I have to force him to let me take them off,” Carter said.
Carter is so thankful that she took a chance and bought that dog sweater four years ago, and can’t imagine what life would be like if she hadn’t.
“It’s so crazy to think that such a small thing could completely change a dog,” Carter said. “It gave him a new life.”
