“I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, there’s a dog!’”
Last year, sisters Laura Chapman and Carla Colbeck were on their way to a family reunion. As they drove past a field, they noticed a little white head popping out of the grass.
“I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, there’s a dog!’” Chapman told The Dodo.
Laura Chapman and Carla Colbeck
Even though they were on a long road trip, the sisters knew they had to figure out what was going on. They got out of the car and went up to the dog. To their surprise, he didn’t run away or seem scared at all.
“It was almost like he was waiting,” Chapman said.
The sisters wasted no time scooping the dog up into their car. They brought him to a vet, who confirmed he didn’t have a microchip. It was clear at that point he’d been abandoned.
Laura Chapman and Carla Colbeck
Chapman and Colbeck noticed the pup’s fur was quite matted and dirty. They took him to a groomer, who painstakingly shaved off his muddy coat.
“It took her four and a half hours to groom him,” Chapman said.
After just a little pampering, the dog already seemed to be feeling much better. The sisters brought him along to their family reunion, where he fit right in and got plenty of attention from everyone.
Laura Chapman and Carla Colbeck
Once the reunion was over, Colbeck realized she couldn’t bear to part with him.
“Since the moment I found him, I said to myself, ‘I’m gonna be driving this teddy bear back home, aren’t I?’” Colbeck told The Dodo.
She decided to name the dog Murphy. Together, she and Murphy made the 23-hour drive back home to Michigan.
Colbeck introduced Murphy to her other dog and her cat. They weren’t expecting her to return from the family reunion with a dog, but they embraced their new sibling with open arms.
Before long, it was like Murphy had always been part of the family.
