3
Sometimes, hope shows up when you least expect it. For one white puppy, it came in the form of a kind stranger heading out for a run.
It was an ordinary day when everything changed. Underneath a park bench, tucked inside a black trash bag, a small white puppy suddenly appeared. He was cold, shaking, and completely alone. The sight stopped the runner in her tracks. She walked over, heart sinking, and gently scooped him up. “Hi, baby,” she said softly.
The puppy was terrified. But he was safe now. She brought him back to her house and gave him a warm bath, followed by a small meal. Slowly, the puppy began to relax and earned the name Cedar.
Soon after, Cedar was taken to the vet to check for a microchip, but there wasn’t one. The woman reached out to her local animal shelter, posted him on every app and website she could think of, and hoped someone might come forward. Deep down, though, it was hard not to fear the worst. “I was just trying to stay positive,” she reflected in the video below, “and not think that somebody could have done this to him.”
Cedar didn’t even want to be put on the floor—he cried until she picked him up again. It was clear he felt safest in her arms. And that’s exactly where he stayed.
In the days that followed, Cedar began playing with her two other dogs, especially Aspen, who quickly became his best friend. Watching them bond, she couldn’t picture him leaving. After a month, she and her boyfriend made it official. Cedar was home.
Now, he runs wild and free on the trails with Aspen and their other dog Juniper, joining the family on their ultra-running adventures. His one blue eye seems to hold the whole universe inside it, and his spirit matches the energy of the trails they run together.
There’s a quiet, powerful connection between Cedar and the woman who found him. “He knows I saved him,” she said, “and he’s been trusting me with his whole heart ever since.”
