This story is about Banjo the beagle! We were living in a very small town in Tennessee while my husband did a 3 month detail for work. I stayed at home with our 3 dogs at the time and finished school online. We lived in a cabin in the woods, so I would sit on the porch to work. I had seen this hound dog walk through the woods nearby and my dogs would bark. He had a collar on, so I let him be. This went on for a week or two. One day I'm on the porch and my 3 dogs run to a porch swing that sits on the ground, where Banjo was sleeping. I called him out and he was shaking like a leaf. I sat down and started my work when this little dog comes crawling under the porch table, hitting his head and ducking under the legs. He lays down at my feet and when I look down I see that he is dying. Skin and bones and very shaky breathing. I did not know he was blind yet. I went to the only other neighbors house to check on anything they knew and he followed me (with all the other dogs) and noticed that he was weaving and would stumble. Then he ran into a tree and I checked him and realized his eyes looked funny, so I waved my hand and that's how I finally figured out he was blind. I took him to the vet and got him checked out and as long as the little guy had been out on his own, he didn't have any disease or heartworms. It turns out the little girl next door out the collar on him. I wondered why it was brand new and he was starved. I named him banjo because he is very high spirited and loves to play with the big dogs and howl the entire time. Banjo loves to hike and walk and we use commands for everything. He loves to try to do it himself, though I still carry him down stairs and over logs that are just too big. He also loves to sleep in my lap. I was blessed to have him find me in those woods.

Story by:
Giovanna Coraggio