Zippy's Story

Here's a lovely story about 3-legged Zippy, a Schnauzer-Chinese Crested rescued by Schnauzer Rescue Cincinnati.

Here's Zippy's story as told by his owner Amy from Auroroa, USA:

"My husband and I are both huge dog lovers, in particular we love mini schnauzers. But we are also big advocates of rescue and knew that we would someday adopt a rescued schnauzer.

After a tragic house fire in '07 in which we lost two pet cats and one dog, we decided upon moving back home that our elderly mini, Nikki, who was 15 at the time, could use a companion.

A search on Petfinder.com led us to Ringo. He had been rescued from a shelter by a rescue group the day before he was to be put down because the neighbors complained. He's some kind of schnauzer mix, maybe a little cattle dog thrown in. A cutie and a sweetheart!

This summer, we lost our old girl, Nikki. At almost 17, her little body just couldn't take it anymore and we had to help her cross the Rainbow Bridge. We knew we had to have another dog so back to Petfinder we went and found Zippy.

Zippy's story is something else. He's a mini schnauzer/chinese crested mix who looks 90% schnauzer. He was pulled from a shelter in West Virginia by Schnauzer Rescue Cincinnati.

His chances of getting adopted from the shelter were not good as he was lame. His right front leg had been caught in a steel trap and never healed correctly, leaving his paw at a 90 degree angle and him walking sideways on his foot.

After the kind folks at Schnauzer Rescue Cincinnati got him, his leg was amputated to give him a better quality of life and lessen his chances of bigger joint problems as he ages.

We adopted Zippy in June of this year (2009). He is absolutely amazing!

The fact that he is missing a front leg does not slow him down at all. He can jump a baby gate, run up and down the stairs, jump on and off the furniture and never have I seen such a little guy run so fast!

My shoulder has come close to being yanked out of the socket when he decides to take off running on the leash! He and Ringo were immediate friends and have bonded to become true brothers.

And Zippy's outlook on life is unbelievable. He is always happy, that nub of a tail always wagging, always hoping to play a game of tug-o-war or tennis ball chase. The rescue member that pulled him from the shelter said he was just as happy then - despite being way underweight, dull coated and stuck in a cold, strange place. He is already teaching us how to stay positive and have fun in life.

Both Zippy and Ringo are great examples of how wonderful rescue dogs can be. Despite rough starts in life, both of them are so sweet and loving and have given us no issues, settling down into their forever homes almost immediately.

I truly believe they are grateful for being rescued - rescue dogs just seem to know they've been saved and try all their lives to pay you back tenfold. It doesn't get any better than that!"

Check out Zippy's three-legged blog at:Tripawds