On a cold, rainy day in early November, a skeletal dog lay curled up in the woods off a back road in Jasper County.
Cars passed.
No one stopped.
Soaked to the bone and trembling, the young dog lifted his head each time headlights approached — watching, waiting — before lowering it again when they disappeared.
Then one car slowed down.
Kristy Stephens, vice president of Whisker Warriors, had just received a call from her daughter, who had spotted the frail pup while running errands. Something about the way he looked — alone, shivering in the rain — didn’t sit right.
Stephens arrived to find him exactly as described: painfully thin, too weak to run, too scared to trust.
“I offered him some food,” Stephens said. “After a few hesitant moments, he slowly came toward it. Once he was close enough, I slipped a leash on him to make sure he was safe.”
But safety didn’t feel safe to him yet.
When Stephens gently tried to guide him toward her car, he resisted. Instead, he turned and attempted to retreat deeper into the woods — perhaps the only place that had felt familiar in weeks.
Stephens knew pushing him would only make things worse.
She sent her daughter home to grab blankets and sat down in the wet leaves beside him.
“I sat with him, talking to him and giving him time to trust me,” she said. “Little by little, he let me get closer until I could place my hands on him and hold him to keep him warm.”
Eventually, wrapped in blankets, the dog allowed himself to be lifted into the car.
The original plan was to bring him to Tracy Campbell, director of Jasper County Humane Society, and transfer him safely into a crate.
But once they saw just how fragile he was, they made a split-second decision.
“We saw how urgent his condition was,” Stephens said. “We made the decision to skip the crate and get him to the vet as quickly as possible.”
It likely saved his life.
At the clinic, the dog — later named Rhodey — had a body temperature of just 95 degrees. A healthy dog’s temperature typically ranges between 101 and 102 degrees.
The veterinarian told them another hour in the cold rain could have been fatal.
“They slowly warmed his temp up, ran bloodwork, and gave him fluids,” Campbell said.
Tests revealed even more hardship. Rhodey was about a year old but weighed only 41 pounds — roughly half of what he should have been. He was anemic and heartworm positive, though too weak to begin treatment immediately.
Still, he had survived.
And once he realized he was safe, something in him began to shift.
Rhodey remained shy at first, cautiously observing his new world. He tolerated other dogs. He enjoyed quiet walks. Most importantly, he started gaining weight — and strength.
Then, a few weeks later, came another turning point.
A retiree who had recently lost her beloved dog saw a news alert about Rhodey. She had sworn she would never open her heart again. But when she saw the sadness in his eyes, she couldn’t look away.
On November 23, she agreed to foster him.
“When I delivered him, I swear he walked into that house like he belonged there,” Campbell said. “He claimed it! Right from the beginning.”
The once-freezing dog who lay in the woods now curls up indoors, warm and safe, learning what it means to be loved.
For now, Rhodey will stay with his foster mom as he continues recovering — gaining weight, building strength, and eventually beginning heartworm treatment.
But those who know him suspect this temporary arrangement may not be temporary for long.
“I don't see how this is not going to be a foster fail,” Campbell said with a smile.
Stephens still thinks about the moment she first saw him — alone in the rain, watching cars pass.
“Rhodey truly fought to survive,” she said.
And because one person finally stopped, he won’t have to fight alone again.
If you'd like to support the Jasper County Humane Society, you can donate through their website.
