Tarsus Çatalburun Dog Names

Sometimes, the strength to carry on, beating the odds, getting to the other side, can come from a variety of sources.  Some of those sources relate to relationships, others to religious beliefs and still others come to us by living examples.  On December 22, 2002, our pop culture spotlight, Faith, came into this world in the usual way in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, born to a healthy canine mama, and she lived until September 22, 2014, and, like the faith of Paul of Tarsus, this Faith gave selflessly to those in great need.

While none of this likely seems unusual, this Chow-Lab mix was born in a flea market, and she was deformed.  So deformed was Faith that, at the age of three weeks, she experienced salvation from suffocation at the paws of her birth mother, an instinct for many animal moms with weak or sickly young, who are doomed.  This rescue was just in the nick of time by Reuben Stringfellow, and brought her home to his mom, Jude.  Despite repeated recommendations by veterinarians to euthanize Faith, Jude believed in her.  You see, Faith was born with two fully developed hind legs and one deformed front leg.  Her deformities prevented her from nursing sufficiently like her litter mates, but she persisted, as is verified by the fact that she lived three weeks before Reuben found her.  

Jude also persisted in her efforts to encourage Faith to eat and move around; even the family Corgi helped “herd” her along in her attempts to “walk” on her three legs.  But walk/hop she did right into the hearts of all who met her, becoming the sweetheart of over 2300 wounded warriors as she visited them throughout the world’s hospitals and wards.  Over two million soldiers saw her at various bases, airports and other ceremonies which she attended.  Attaining the non-commissioned rank of E5 Sgt. at Ft. Lewis, Washington in 2006, the first dog commissioned after an amputation! She had an ACU jacket, and pulling it out of the closet signaled that she was going to meet more soldiers, and that excited her beyond belief. She was true to the meaning of her name, "to keep the promise; word of honor."  Our pop culture Faith became to those many wounded warriors, a symbol of that faith, hope, and love, sharing with all when the need was huge.  Her fan club will always remember her capacity to love in the book “Faith Walks … A Memoir of a Beautiful Life.”