Marshall the puppy was facing a horrible end to his short life.
He had been stuck in a pound for about a month and was facing being put down. The Dog Rescue Newcastle team rallied to save him and he now has a new lease on life.
Dog rescuer Sara Degoat went to Quirindi pound, north of Muswellbrook, a couple of weeks ago to "bust out two beautiful souls".
While she was there she saw Marshall, who she described as "a sweet little nugget who loves people". "I told him to hold tight and I would do everything I could to bust him out," Sara said.
After much hard work and organising from the Dog Rescue Newcastle team, Marshall gained his "freedom ticket".
She thanked the "many people involved in this rescue".
Grace Lawrence, a carer with Dog Rescue Newcastle, drove with her partner Spencer to the pound to save Marshall.
"He was in a tiny enclosure. The rangers up there are beautiful, but they can only do so much," she said.
"There was no run [a place to run around]. Usually at shelters there's a run. He spent a month in there."
She said Marshall was "so beautiful".
"He spent the entire car trip being such a good boy, sleeping in the backseat."
When she took him home to Shortland, he bonded with Emma - Grace's boxer cross staffy.
"I've never seen her so happy," Grace said.
She believes Marshall is a border collie cross staffie. "He has the markings of a border collie and the head and body of a staffy. He's very similar to a border collie in his temperament."
When carers end up keeping dogs they're looking after, it's called a "foster fail".
"I think we are going to foster fail because we love him to bits," Grace said.
"I adore him. I don't know why anyone would ever want to put him down."
Marshall was surrendered to the pound for digging, but Grace said "he hasn't dug once here". "He has the most beautiful temperament. There are so many dogs in pounds just like him."
She hopes sharing the story of Marshall "encourages people to foster pound dogs".
Close Bond
Adrienne Roberts tells Topics she was the "very lucky recipient of the 650th Australian Lions Hearing Dog".
The hearing dogs are trained to alert their owners to household sounds such as the doorbell, smoke alarm and phone ringing.
"In the short time I've had Louie, we have formed a close bond," Adrienne said.
"I feel safer now as I know I won't miss any important messages, such as the need to evacuate or if someone is trying to contact me urgently."
Simply by being with Adrienne in public, Louie shows others that they might need to take her lack of hearing into consideration.
"He is a good advocate for me and contributes in so many ways to my overall wellbeing."
