Spicy Story Cover Model: Sweet, playful Ramblin’ Wreck barely escaped being murdered by neighbor
Ramblin’ Wreck soon after rescue / Photo: Bonnie Burnette, Praying for Paws
by Katerina Lorenzatos Makris
The cover model for Spicy Story “Endowed” is Ramblin’ Wreck. A two-year-old, 70-pound, “very sweet, loving and playful” yellow Lab/golden retriever mix, he is available for adoption through Praying for Paws of McDonough, Georgia.
Wreck’s foster mom Bonnie Burnette said he’s named after the Georgia Institute of Technology’s school mascot, which is a car.
“It seemed sort of fitting for him since he was rambling around lost, and looked like a wreck because he was skinny and dirty,” Burnette explained in an email interview with Spicy Stories. “One of my favorite football teams and one of my favorite dogs.”
Before he was lucky enough to land in the loving arms of Burnette and Praying for Paws, Wreck was in serious danger.
“Late on a Friday evening, a lady in the neighborhood where he was found sent out a plea to local rescues looking for someone to take him,” Burnette recalled, “because the owner of the vacant house he was hanging out around was threatening to kill him if someone or animal control didn’t pick him up.”
Here’s more of Wreck’s story…
Q&A with Bonnie Burnette, Wreck’s foster mom, with Praying for Paws
Spicy Stories Save Lives: Where was Wreck found?
Bonnie Burnette: McDonough Georgia in Henry County
Spicy Stories: Who found him?
Burnette: A lady in the neighborhood where he was found sent out a plea to local rescues looking for someone to take him late on a Friday evening because the owner of the vacant house he was hanging out around was threatening to kill him if someone or animal control didn’t pick him up.
Spicy Stories: What shape was he in?
Burnette: He was very thin; you could see his spine & ribs. He was probably about 20-25 pounds underweight for a dog of his size.
Spicy Stories: How did you bring him back to health?
Burnette: I took him into my home. After notifying Animal Control, and with no success in our search for his owner, Carol Kelly agreed to take him into the rescue. I took him to Noah’s Ark for a check-up, shots and microchip and to be neutered. His checkup and getting him up-to-date on shots went well, but he needed to gain weight before the alteration surgery could be done. It took about a month to a month and a half to get the weight back on him. I fostered him for Praying for Paws during this time and during his recovery from the procedure.
Spicy Stories: What is his personality like?
Burnette: He is a gentle giant, very sweet, loving and playful. He’s also very quick to catch on to commands. But, he is also very protective of his ‘family’.
Spicy Stories: What kind of new home/family would be best for him?
Burnette: Hmmm, I think Wreck would do well in almost any home where he can love and be loved. He is housebroken, uses a doggie door and is wellbehaved indoors. He does love to run and play fetch so a home with children would be good.
However he also does well on a harness/leash and as I stated before, he is very protective so he would be a great companion for a single person.
He’s just an all around great dog. He gets along well with other dogs, large and small, male and female. He will chase a cat given the chance, but has never caught or hurt one. He loses interest if they don’t run.
Spicy Stories: Any cute or funny or sweet stories about him that we should include?
Burnette: One day I had started my SUV and was loading some things up in my driveway. He was really excited running and jumping in the back yard, hoping to get to go. Without realizing what he had done, he ended up clearing the fence in back yard; as I watched him, he looked around like ‘ooh, how did that happen’ then seeing his opportunity he ran for the Tahoe. Once he was in and so excited about getting to go to ride, I couldn’t say no.
That was the day I realized just how much he did love to ride. He never jumped the fence again, so I’m not sure he even realized that he could.
To apply to adopt Wreck please contact Praying for Paws.
Katerina Lorenzatos Makris is a career journalist, author, and editor. Her fiction includes 17 novels for Simon and Schuster, E.P. Dutton, Avon, and other major publishers (under the name Kathryn Makris), as well as a teleplay for CBS-TV, and a short story for The Bark magazine. She has written hundreds of articles for regional wire services and for outlets such as National Geographic Traveler, The San Francisco Chronicle, Travelers’ Tales, NBC’s Petside.com, Animal Issues Reporter.org, and Examiner.com (Animal Policy Examiner).
