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Two-Legged Dog! Two-Legged Dog!

MrRING

MrRING

Android Futureman
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Aug 7, 2002
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Two-legged dog takes life in stride
By GINNIE GRAHAM

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- At the Stringfellow house, Faith walks.In fact, Faith -- the dog -- walks and runs just about everywhere, despite being born with only two working legs.She walks upright, like a human being.Faith is not just a name for this 7-month-old mixed breed.

"We had faith she would walk again," said 14-year-old Laura Stringfellow. "We had faith in her. And that's her name."The Stringfellow family in Oklahoma City believed a disabled puppy should have a chance at a normal life.

They worked in shifts nursing the puppy through her early weeks.They put her on a skateboard to show her how movement feels.They watched her learn to roll from side to side at 5-weeks-old to running full sprints now at 7 months."I knew she would be special," said mother Jude Stringfellow."Maybe people will say, 'Hey, I don't have to have a perfect dog, but I can get one that is happy.' And Faith is certainly happy."

The family adopted Faith when the original owners were going to put her to sleep. The owners feared the congenital disability would leave her immobile."No dog deserves to die," said 17-year-old Reuben Stringfellow. "She was a very normal little puppy; a real strong and normal puppy with two legs. She was a cripple as a puppy, but I wanted to hold it, pet it, feed it and take care of it."

Faith can maintain perfect balance and sits on her haunches. She has a smaller, useless front limb that has atrophied and is scheduled to be amputated."I thought she would crawl the rest of her life," said Reuben Stringfellow. "I'm real proud of her." Slightly taller than 3 feet, Faith can be an imposing creature to fellow pets.

Cats scurry under furniture when the Godzilla-like chow and Labrador mix darts up to play."The pets treat her like any other animal, but the cats are scared of her," said Laura Stringfellow. Faith has a loving fascination with fire stations and firefighters, often sprinting at the site of either. For fun, Faith takes walks with her family, tussles with the other family pets, chases the cats and plays tug-of-war with a sock.

A corgi helped goad her into walking by yapping at her from across a room and at times nipping her heels. She joins a family filled with two other dogs, three cats, a couple of hamsters and a snake or two. "She's a rough-and-tumble type of dog," said Jude Stringfellow. "We call her tyrannosaurus rex because she'll stand up to get the height advantage and bite on their necks or dive to bite their heels. I think our corgi regrets showing her how to herd and nip."

On a recent trip near a pond, Faith experienced her first swimming lesson when she jumped in the water. "She was in over her head and looked like a mermaid," said Jude Stringfellow. "We pulled her out like a marlin; she dried off and jumped right back in." Faith repeatedly jumped into the water, trying desperately but unsuccessfully to swim.

"There was this moment after the fourth or fifth time we pulled her out, when she went too far. She gave us a sad look and realized she couldn't do it." But there's not much else Faith can't do. She likes moving pillows to the couch before pouncing on it and loves attention, often whining until someone pets her. Faith is housebroken and stands by the door with a whimper when she needs to be let outside. She uses the bathroom standing up, and rests on her legs to eat.

"She plays hard and she sleeps hard," said Jude Stringfellow. "And she's a spoiled dog. We call her the diva because sometimes she won't perform when we want her to." Faith's story has circled the globe through stories in Canadian, Swedish, Mexican, French and Dutch tabloid newspapers. A story appeared recently in the National Enquirer and the British Broadcasting Corp.

The family would like Faith to be trained to help disabled people, but they will not give her away."We'd like for her to be an inspiration," said Jude Stringfellow. "I've prayed and told the Lord I want Faith to work for Him."
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STORY WITH PIX
 
t'would bring a tear to a glass eye that would :sob: ... but man alive that pic is freaky! :eek!!!!:
 
"We'd like for her to be an inspiration," said Jude Stringfellow. "I've prayed and told the Lord I want Faith to work for Him."

Spreading Christian dogma no doubt.
:)
 
I had a three legged dog but that is orders of magnitude odder - I really need to see some video of it walking!!
 
Eeeuw! Evil dog! Evil dog!

Seriously, I've seen a two legged dog walking, this one had only it's front legs in use, the back two were paralyzed and dangled off the ground. It was a whippety type thing with a hunched back, so it could get it's centre of balance forwards easier than most.
 
Aaaaahh! Aaaahh!! Dog-headed man!

*Runs away and hides behind settee ...*
 
Pete Younger said:
"We'd like for her to be an inspiration," said Jude Stringfellow. "I've prayed and told the Lord I want Faith to work for Him."

Spreading Christian dogma no doubt.
:)
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For all those US citizens reading this, who may be baffled at the apparent cynicism of us Brits when it comes to straightforward expressions of simple Christian faith. Yes we are, by and large, just that cynical.

In fact, my first thought was what a great propaganda weapon such a freakish sideshow act could be in the hands of "pro-lifers".

Personally, I would be much more impressed if such time and effort were expended on rehabilitating members of one's own species.
 
AndroMan said:
For all those US citizens reading this, who may be baffled at the apparent cynicism of us Brits when it comes to straightforward expressions of simple Christian faith. Yes we are, by and large, just that cynical.
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I always find it quite amusing that for a country that invented its very own religion, the percentage of population that follow it isn't that high. I'm as guilty as anyone - I've been christened Church of England, but have never been to a service (apart from a couple of christennings and a harvest festival when I was at school).

One thing I'd like to know is, how does the poor thing eat? It'd surely have to balance on its chin in the dog bowl, and then risk drowning in condemned pig lips, nostrils, and ears!

#EDIT: and is it just me, or does that picture remind you a bit of Riverdance?

Coat? I didn't have one. Oh, I see...#
 
Agent Buffy said:
One thing I'd like to know is, how does the poor thing eat? It'd surely have to balance on its chin in the dog bowl, and then risk drowning in condemned pig lips, nostrils, and ears!
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I expect she just sits down then stoops over using her legs to balance. Cool story, though the dog IS slightly scary!
 
"Good Dog
Give me a paw
give..me..a..paw
awwww poor dog."
 
I think there was a case some time in the early 20th century of a goat that lost its front feet as a kid and was similarly taught to walk bipedally. I seem to remember reading this in a book about mythical creatures, as a possible origin of all the "goat-legged man" things like Satyrs, if such a thing had happened in ancient Greece and been witnessed by someone who didn't know what it was.

Still pretty freaky though, and it is sort of reminiscent of a tyrannosaur... :eek:

A dog walking bipedally on only its front legs sounds even weirder though. That i can't really visually imagine...
 
There's a cat walking bipedally on front legs in the funny cats video which goes the rounds. I nearly killed meself laughing at it. :D Think it's a trick cat though, not a disabled one.

*goes off to watch the funny cats again*
 
Faith the dog is to star in a Harry Potter fillum, I've just heard on Sky News.
 
escargot said:
Faith the dog is to star in a Harry Potter fillum, I've just heard on Sky News.
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Just seen this article about it on BBCi

Potter film hope for disabled dog


A two-legged dog that has learned to walk like a human could be considered for a role in the next Harry Potter film, according to reports.
Faith's owners in Oklahoma City in the US believe the part could involve her appearing as the result of a spell.

But the Stringfellow family said British trainers working on the film had not yet confirmed a part for Faith, who was born with the disability.

The three-foot tall dog even has her own showbiz lawyer.

Faith has been featured on the Ricki Lake show in the US and has attracted widespread interest from newspapers all over the world.

The family has been contacted about the possibility of doing a few scenes in the fourth Harry Potter movie, The Goblet Of Fire, currently being filmed in the UK, but no plans have been finalised, they said.

The 19-month-old labrador-chow cross was adopted by the Stringfellows as a three-week old puppy in danger of being rejected by her mother and put down.

She was suffering from a birth defect that meant her front legs were not fully formed.

Over six months the family taught her to stand, hop and eventually walk and run on her two back legs.

Part of her therapy included being put on a skateboard to experience movement, the Stringfellows told a US newspaper.

When her partial front legs began to weaken and die she had an operation to have them removed.
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Cheers

Floyd.
 
That's nothing! My dog's got no nose!

How does he smell?

Terrible!

















Retrieves coat...........Leaves forum via back door.
 
Not sure I should have watched that so close to bed time.:eek!!!!:
 
LobeliaOverhill said:
I can't see nuffink ...
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"An error occurred." Damn, and I really wanted to see that thing go.

Call me a heathen, but I can't help thinking it would have been kinder to put the pup in a sack with a lump of coal and send it diving.

Why is it when a devout Christian creates a monster he claims it's the work of the Lord, but if anyone else did it the beast would be the spawn of the devil. Check out the plank in your own eye boyo. I wonder if the Stringfellow family has any connection with a well known dirty old night-club owner. They have the same flare for the ridiculous.

At least I'll have another reason to hate Harry Potter.
 
Wouldn´t it make more sense to use him in a Scooby Doo movie?
 
LobeliaOverhill said:
t'would bring a tear to a glass eye that would
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LOL...LOL...LOL...Now, laughin' at that line would bring a tear to a glass eye.....I have GOT to remember that one...Thanks....
 
I've seen the dog with photoshopped front legs, possibly on b3ta. :D
 
J Paul said:
LOL...LOL...LOL...Now, laughin' at that line would bring a tear to a glass eye.....I have GOT to remember that one...Thanks....
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very old expression that, so don't credit it to me! :D
 
Pete Younger said:
Not sure I should have watched that so close to bed time.:eek!!!!:
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Yes I'm thinking I'll wait til morning, the still pic's scared the bejesus out of me!
 
Wow, my searches have been working lately.

Anyway, I was just watching this show on Animal Planet and there was a dog on it. This dog had four legs, but it could walk on only two and when it did so it looked JUST like the dog in this picture. It looked like it could even be a similar type of dog too.
 
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