In March, Bill Shaver was driving home to Missouri following a fishing trip when he decided to pull into a rest stop to use the restroom.
Since Bill knew he’d only be gone for a minute he left his car running and the driver’s door wide open.
Little did bill know, that this decision would change two lives forever.
While Bill was in the restroom, a desperately malnourished stray dog named River found her way to his car. River saw an open door and decided to hop right into Bill’s passenger seat.
River then curled up and closed her eyes.
When Bill returned and found River snoozing in his passenger seat, he did a double take.
But, after careful inspection, he could see the poor pooch hadn’t had a decent meal in what looked like days.
The only thing he had on him was a Rice Krispy treat, which the grateful pup gladly gobbled up.
As fate would have it, Bill was a dog lover and happened to own three rescue dogs at home.
As Bill watched River eat her sugary treat, he fell in love with her. He sent his wife Angela a pic of the dog and asked if he could bring her home. Angela immediately said yes.
“I asked him what our new dog’s name was,” Angela Shaver told The Dodo. “We decided to call her River because of where she found him.”
Bill continued his drive home, and River continued her slumber in his passenger seat. When they arrived home, Bill and Angela’s son came out to greet River.
But, there was one problem.
The poor pup was confused and refused to leave the safety of Bill’s car.
Once it became clear that River wasn’t budging on her own, Bill carried her to the backyard.
River took a few minutes to sniff around and quickly became comfortable in her new yard.
In fact, she loved it as much as Bill’s car!
One by one, Bill and Angela introduced River to her new dog siblings, and they were delighted to see that River got along well with everyone.
Once all the introductions concluded, Bill brought River inside and bathed her, perhaps the first one she’s ever had.
Once in the bath, Bill discovered the poor puppy was covered in ticks, and she also had some blood on her neck and face. Bill made an appointment at the vet the next day to get River checked out.
“After she was dried off and some ticks picked off, she got a good meal. Bill made her a bed on the floor in our room next to the space heater. She slept there all night,” Angela said.
At the vet’s office, Bill and Angela discovered that poor River had several different health issues, including tapeworms, heartworms, and wounds on her neck from fighting. Thankfully, the vet was able to treat all of River’s ailments, and soon she would be as healthy as ever!
River also started becoming more and more comfortable in her new home. She and her siblings loved frolicking around together, and she really loved spending time with her new parents.
“She runs in the yard and chases nothing with Winston, sits for cookies with Ginger and hogs the bed with Butters,” Angela said. “The cat was very unpleased for the first few days, but is finally coming around.”
When River took a chance and hopped into Bill’s car, she could have never imagined that she would be on her way to her forever home.
This story almost sounds like a Hollywood tear-jerker, but it’s 100 percent true and River’s definitely 100 percent blessed!