Faith the Amazing Biped Dog!
Faith is an incredible dog. She was born just before Christmas in 2002, and we were lucky enough to have her in our family just 3 short weeks later. She was born to a mother dog, believed to be nearly full blooded chow, along with several other siblings. Faith wasn't the only puppy born with deformities, but because "Princess", her mother, was not our dog, we are not sure of the exact number of puppies she gave birth to. It is certain, however, that Faith was the only puppy with deformities to live.
Faith was rescued by my son Reuben on January 21, 2003, when he and his friend Johnny, the owner of Princess, jumped over the fence of the flea market area that Princess was raised to guard. Princess isn't exactly the mothering kind. She was literally terminating Faith's life because she knew instinctively that Faith was unable to battle the other puppies for a place to feed. Faith was weak, small, runtish, and mostly she was nearly dead. Reuben grabbed Faith out from under Princess and smuggled her under his jersey. He wore #63 for the Putnam City Pirates football team.
When Reuben brought Faith to us she had 3 actual legs, but the left front leg was badly deformed, placed backward, upside down, and it had more toes on it than normal dog legs. The leg was removed when she was 7 months old when it began to atrophy. People ask me if it was easy to teach Faith to walk upright...the answer is NO! It was not easy, and it was not natural. It was SUPER natural, and therefore, we have to give all of the credit to Jesus. Of course, it took a little....Faith as well.
You can send email to:faith@faiththedog.net
National Speakers Association / Endorsements / My Blog
I am now a member of the National Speakers Assoc. and I can't wait to be in your city talking and sharing our story! You can see my profile with the NSA by clicking: http://www.nsaspeaker.org/speaker_detail/60750.shtml You can contact me or my manager Mike Maguire for commitments. Faith (by the way) has a My Space. It is: www.myspace.com/judeauthor I hope you can add us as your friend, talk to us, comment on things, but if nothing else - at least look at our pictures of Gary Sinise!! (I really do love that man...and I really do love Starbucks Coffee. Come to think of it, they're both strong, satifying, and come in decorative white containers with colorful accented orbs - Gary's eyes.)
I also have an almost daily blog found at: www.zimbio.com/Jude+Stringfellow+Comedy
Faith and I are endorsing Dublin Dog Collars and Tags through June 2008. You can see their site at: www.dublindog.com
NOTE: Some of the photos on the photo gallery were not taken by me or my associates. I don't know how or where to give credit. I can remove any photo if they are not approved.
YOUTUBE - New Video of Faith Walking in Laurel Canyon Park in Jan. 2008
We were filming with the Nichiki Group out of Japan for the very popular show DASH. It was a great opportunity for Laura to mingle with some really great people from Japan as she is planning on taking a trip soon to try and land a singing label in that country. Laura sings in Japanese and English. Someone very kind shot this footage and posted it. We thank you for mentioning the website and the books for sale on Amazon. Just Google my name - Jude Stringfellow. You can look at the video on YouTube by searching for "Faith the Dog" or "Faith the Dog in Laurel Canyon Park" Thanks so much!!
www.youtube.com Posted on 6/12/2008
THANKS to everyone who is writing to me
I have been getting really nice e-mails from all over the world about Faith and her love for others. Her strength, empowerment, all of it we credit to Jesus - but we realize that not everyone is of the same or similar belief. That is what is so great about her name being FAITH it is able to transcent every religious barrier. We love you each, and we love you all - thank you for your kind words.
Posted on 6/12/2008
Opinion Blog
You may be interested in reading the Opinion Blog today. I got a little hot when I was asked to show Faith off on a television show that had NO intention of mentioning her strengths. They just wanted a puppet to walk around their stage. That set me off. Go to the left side of this page and click on the link to the opinion blog to see what I'm fired up about.
Posted on 6/10/2008
Spokane Pet Fest - AWESOME!
We are at the PetCo booth (#35) in the Spokane Fairgrounds - look for the signs. We're doing shows at 12:30 and 3:30 I believe tomorrow, as we did today. We had a great crowd come out today, lots of dogs, lots of love. The weiner dogs raced today! I think it may be a Chihuahua racing day tomorrow. Don't quote me. I know this: There will be lots of things to see and lots of dogs to sniff around. The Spokane Humane Society is adopting several animals - except Simba, he's a cat that ran up a tree at the Air Force Base today during their pet show, and I'm not sure Simba is coming down! Good looking firefighters came out to help though - the rumors are true! A big SPECIAL Thanks to the Humane Society and all those responsible for picking me up (Vern) and driving me around. Thanks to Judy and Barbara at the Fairchild for helping me get to the base! Thanks for the Starbucks!! Love you guys, and I got another medal/coin today from Judy Loper - this time from the USAF Survivor School. She said Faith deserved it! Thank you. A big hello to "Barbara from Spokane" who simply loves Faith with all of her heart. Faith is wearing her little purple tag that Barbara brought for her today. (Thanks PetCo for all your help too: Lea, Judy, Jessica, and Emily!)
www.spokanepetfest.com Posted on 5/31/2008
Ft. Lewis, Seattle and Fairchild Air Force Base, Spokane
Faith and I are visiting the Army and the Air Force this weekend. We've been seen at Ft. Lewis, where Faith totally ignored her good friend Pat McGhee until he came to the PX and treated her with snacks - - then she became his best friend again. Guess who was at Ft. Lewis? That's RIGHT SSgt Laura Bigenho-Levering with her new husband SSgt Marcus Levering! We were sooo surprised to see them, they met and fell in love in Iraq. They were married in Feb. We have to give Bernie Stork of Scott AFB (St. Louis) a bad time because Bernie got a kiss from Faith, but Faith got a gold coin from Pat! Hahaha...we'll have to pick up another one when we're in St. Louis! We visited Fairchild with Judy Loper the Store Manager, and they have a new Commander! We met Col. Filion and SHE gave Faith another gold coin! YES! Faith has 5 now!!! Awesome! Faith perked up and barked at every single man not wearing a uniform at Fairchild -reminding them that REAL service men wear Green! (OK, or blue, or black, or white, or dusty brown) We'll go back tomorrow morning for a 9-11 pet show and then off to the Pet Fest Pet Show hosted by PetCo and the Spokane Humane Society! Can't wait to do that one. I'll blog all about and show off pictures if I can get the webmaster to fix the photo gallery! C'mon Matt, what do you think? (LOL)
www.goarmy.com Posted on 5/30/2008