On Friday, July 8th, a family living in Sitka, Alaska, had given up hope of finding their blind elderly golden retriever. Lulu had wandered off from home, and it wasn’t until about three weeks ago that a construction crew, initially mistaking her for a bear, found the retriever in a salmonberry bush.
Lulu’s owners, the Kubacki family, had been searching desperately. Ted Kubacki, the father, was so grateful she had been found because to his family, “She means everything. I have five daughters, and they’re 4 to 13 years old, so they’ve spent every day of their life with that dog,” the father, Ted Kubacki told reporters.
After what had seemed like forever, the family had given up hope until a construction crew spotted Lulu lying in the brush alongside a road not far from the Kubacki’s home. She was about 15 feet down an embankment, and at first the crew thought it was a bear.
“They got a closer look and they realized that it was a dog, and they got her out of there,” Kubacki told reporters.
All the sadness melted away when he got the call that Lulu had been found.
“I called my wife from work and it was just screaming… She just starts yelling, then she yells to the kids. And I just hear them screaming like crazy,” Kubacki said.
Unfortunately, when Lulu was found, she was in bad shape. The 80-pound dog had dropped 23 pounds since she was lost. She was dehydrated, dirty and her fur was matted.
“I just expected to come back and be like ‘Hey, here’s my dog.’ She’s going to jump up and wag her tail and kiss my face, and she couldn’t even pick up her head. She’d been through the wringer. She’s just so helpless, and you kind of imagined that she can’t get real far because she can’t see,” Kubacki said.
Thankfully, after lots of care and help, Lulu’s condition has markedly improved with medical attention, food and rest.
“Slowly but surely she started eating and she was kind of able to pick her head up,” Kubacki said. “But then yesterday, she propped herself up on her front paws by herself, like nestled into me and gave me a kiss and wagged her tail and it was just so great.”
“We have our family member home,” he added.
Link: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/blind-older-dog-found-alaska-3-weeks-wandering-rcna37536
Lulu’s owners, the Kubacki family, had been searching desperately. Ted Kubacki, the father, was so grateful she had been found because to his family, “She means everything. I have five daughters, and they’re 4 to 13 years old, so they’ve spent every day of their life with that dog,” the father, Ted Kubacki told reporters.
After what had seemed like forever, the family had given up hope until a construction crew spotted Lulu lying in the brush alongside a road not far from the Kubacki’s home. She was about 15 feet down an embankment, and at first the crew thought it was a bear.
“They got a closer look and they realized that it was a dog, and they got her out of there,” Kubacki told reporters.
All the sadness melted away when he got the call that Lulu had been found.
“I called my wife from work and it was just screaming… She just starts yelling, then she yells to the kids. And I just hear them screaming like crazy,” Kubacki said.
Unfortunately, when Lulu was found, she was in bad shape. The 80-pound dog had dropped 23 pounds since she was lost. She was dehydrated, dirty and her fur was matted.
“I just expected to come back and be like ‘Hey, here’s my dog.’ She’s going to jump up and wag her tail and kiss my face, and she couldn’t even pick up her head. She’d been through the wringer. She’s just so helpless, and you kind of imagined that she can’t get real far because she can’t see,” Kubacki said.
Thankfully, after lots of care and help, Lulu’s condition has markedly improved with medical attention, food and rest.
“Slowly but surely she started eating and she was kind of able to pick her head up,” Kubacki said. “But then yesterday, she propped herself up on her front paws by herself, like nestled into me and gave me a kiss and wagged her tail and it was just so great.”
“We have our family member home,” he added.
Link: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/blind-older-dog-found-alaska-3-weeks-wandering-rcna37536
