Filthy stray dog begs dog mom for help after neglect left pup underweight and with matted fur, she agreed and fell in love, adding four paws to her fur family, says: ‘She had been kept in the yard since she was a puppy, never groomed, fed rarely.’

Author image for Laurent Shinar
Laurent Shinar • Writer and Editor
Jun 5, 2026 9:00 AM EDT

They say that some dog children are born to us, and some find us. This tale of doggo rescue from the searing heat of the desert is a heartwarming example of the latter and one that should remind us all that sometimes in dog rescues we have to make the tough choices.

After all, no situation involving a stray dog is going to be straightforward. There are tons of unknowns and you have to take a massive leap of faith that the dog will be calm and trust you to help them. But none of that mattered to the dog mom in this story from Reddit's r/confessions subreddit, she was only focused on getting a canine soul out of the scorching heat before there would be no doggo to save.

Thankfully, this is one of the sweeter stories about a doggo being saved as the pupper who was pulled from the street happened to be quite the sweetheart. Letting her rescuer clean her up, feed her and dote on her almost immediately without any fear. Something that rarely happens in these kinds of tales and potentially a big part of how and why this pup stole her new hooman's heart and landed herself a loving furever home. 
 

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  • 01
    "Well, I ended up falling in love with this dog and decided to take her to the local pet shelter/veterinarian to check for a chip"
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    Let me preface this by saying that I believe I saved this dog from horrible neglectful owners, and I would have given her back if the previous owners actually did anything
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    to care for this dog prior to me finding her, but they didn't. I live in the desert, where it gets to 110+ degrees most days in the summer, its a dry sweltering heat that often
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  • Well, well, talk about starting a story with a bang! That statement is a bold one, especially when backed up with the serious weather conditions that exist in this dog mom’s area. Situations where pawrent neglect their puppers are painfully common, but in most cases the outdoor environment is not so harsh as to directly threaten the pupper’s life. But in a place where the ground gets to scorching temperatures, with no place to hide and no water to be found, it is beyond neglectful to leave a dog outside on their own. So we can understand why this dog lover would feel so strongly about not returning this pupper to their rightful owner. But only the rest of the story will tell us if they were justified in their decision.
     

  • 04
    leaves animals left outside dehydrated with heat stroke, and damaged paws, if they don't have access to water and/or shade. One morning in the middle of the summer, I was out
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    for a run in my planned community with my golden retriever Lady. Lady is a very reactive dog, who doesn't really like other dogs. As we are running through the neighborhood, a
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    small, very dirty, and matted whitish/grey dog comes out from under a car and begins to follow us around. Of course Lady is getting riled up at this point barking wildly at this dirty dreadlocked little dog. I run all
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    the way back to my house, trying to control Lady and get her away from the little dirtball as fast as possible, but unfortunately the little dirty dog kept up and was able to follow us home.
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    Lady was of course irate, and I was at a loss on what to do. There was now a dirty, dreadlocked, possibly disease ridden dog waiting outside my door, and the temperature
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    was climbing to intolerable rates. I decided to grab the little dog and take her to the bathroom to 1.keep her away from lady just in case she was carrying Parvo or
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    Cheezburger Image 10635543040
    via OlgaOvcharenko via Adobe Stock

    White Bichon Frise dog standing amongst autumn leaves on a path, resprented by dog model.

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    someother disease, and 2. to get her inside where I could keep her cool and get her some water/food. After getting her in the guest bathroom, I realize that this dog is filthy and
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    probably hasn't been bathed in a while, but despite her appearance the dog is very friendly and seems to be thankful that I let her inside. I decided to give her a bath with
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  • Goodness, how sweet is this dog?! Dogs have a high level of emotional intelligence, so it is not as though this dirty doggo did not know that Lady was not keen on her. But she pursued this dog mom nonetheless, perhaps this doggo sensed that she had crossed paths with a person who truly cares for canine-kind and would do whatever it takes to help her. And it seems that her faith has most certainly paid off, giving her the opportunity to heal, get cleaned up and maybe even settle into what will become her furever home. 
     

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    some flea shampoo and this is where is see that she has large dreadlocks all over her body, the coloring around her eyes are actually tear stains that have accumulated into large brown sludge crusts, and she has
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    several dreads near her but that have intertwined with fs because she has never been groomed, brushed, or bathed. I give this little dog the most thorough bath | could and got off
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    most of the dirt on her body. At this point, she was still very matted and dread locked, but seemed to be in much better spirits and was very affectionate. Well, I
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    ended up falling in love with this dog and decided to take her to the local pet shelter/veterinarian to check for a chip (they didn't find one and she didn't have a collar) and get her some shots (parvo, rabies, etc.)
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    The people in the pet shelter told me that she is probably a stray and had been outside for several months, and to post a picture online somewhere. If no
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    one replied in 30 days, I would be able to keep her. So, I put an ad online immediately and waited it out. During this time the dog is groomed and checked again by
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    Cheezburger Image 10635543552
    via Skatty via Adobe Stock

    White Bichon Frise puppy in person's hand, resprented by dog model.

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    the vet, and she turns out to be some sort of bishon mix about 1-1.5 years old. The groomer said that the dog had never been groomed before because the dreadlocks would
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    take a year to get that long (6-8 inches), and the vet approximated her age by looking at her teeth (which were very white and new). About 9 days after finding this dog,
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    now named Phi Phi, I see a single flier on one of the community mailboxes describing a lost dog that fits the description of Phi Phi. (I live in a large community with several mailboxes and posts, but only
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    one flier was posted.) In their flier the previous owners state that they lost the dog the DAY I FOUND HER. This means that she had been kept in the back yard since she was a puppy, never groomed, fed rarely (she was about 3 lbs
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    Cheezburger Image 10635542784
    via Benoît via Adobe Stock

    White Bichon Frise dog sitting on cliff over beaches, represented by model dog.

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    under weight for her size), and neglected. They also waited 8-9 days to post a flier, in the heat of the desert the dog would have dd without any care in this time. (I was still running every morning with Lady
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    and was checking to see if anyone posted any fliers, and didn't see one until this day.) Phi Phi now had a new life and was loved/taken care of and I couldn't bare the thought of returning her to be neglected, so I didn't. I took
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    down my online post, and didn't mention Phi Phi's origins to anyone. It has been a year and Phi Phi is a beautiful, affectionate dog and is very happy to be in my house with her sister Lady.
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paws fur falling in love stray dog dreadlocks groom dog mom puppy add reddit story help begging neglect dog story filthy
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