Faith the Amazing Biped Dog!
Faith is an incredible dog. She was born just before Christmas in 2002, and we were lucky enough to have her in our family just 3 short weeks later. She was born to a mother dog, believed to be nearly full blooded Chinese Chow Chow, along with several other siblings. Faith wasn't the only puppy born with deformities, but because "Princess", her mother, was not our dog, we are not sure of the exact number of puppies she gave birth to. It is certain, however, that Faith was the only puppy with deformities to live.
Faith was rescued by my son Reuben on January 21, 2003, when he and his friend Johnny, the owner of Princess, jumped over the fence of the flea market area that Princess was raised to guard. Princess isn't exactly the mothering kind. She was literally terminating Faith's life because she knew instinctively that Faith was unable to battle the other puppies for a place to feed. Faith was weak, small, runtish, and mostly she was nearly dead. Reuben grabbed Faith out from under Princess and smuggled her under his jersey. He wore #63 for the Putnam City Pirates football team.
When Reuben brought Faith to us she had 3 actual legs, but the left front leg was badly deformed, placed backward, upside down, and it had more toes on it than normal dog legs. The leg was removed when she was 7 months old when it began to atrophy. People ask me if it was easy to teach Faith to walk upright...the answer is NO! It was not easy, and it was not natural. It was SUPER natural, and therefore, we have to give all of the credit to Jesus. Of course, it took a little....Faith as well.
I wrote two separate books about Faith and our Family. Both are available at www.xlibris.com and/or www.amazon.com "With a Little Faith" (2nd Ed.) is primarily about our family and the struggles we endured before Faith came into our lives and helped heal our hearts. "Faith Alone: Stories of an Amazing Dog" is more about Faith and is now being translated in Japanese as well.
You can send email to:faith@faiththedog.net
National Speakers Association / Blog Stuff
I am now a member of the National Speakers Assoc. and I can't wait to be in your city talking and sharing our story! You can see my profile with the NSA by clicking: http://www.nsaspeaker.org/speaker_detail/60750.shtml
I also have an almost daily blog found at: www.zimbio.com/Jude+Stringfellow+Comedy
Laura's got a new video up on her showcase: www.showcaseyourmusic.com/Laura and she'll be adding more soon. The showcase is not professional, although SWAY ME was more professionally recorded than the others. It's fun.
NOTE: Some of the photos on the photo gallery were not taken by me or my associates. I don't know how or where to give credit. I can remove any photo if they are not approved.
WJFK Radio - Big O and Dukes Show
Hey!!! We want to give a big shout out to the Big O and Dukes show on Washington DC's number 1 radio station WJFK!!! We were just talked about on their show this afternoon, and when I called in to tell John that my ears were burning way over here in OKC - he agreed to call me back on Wed. of next week 1 p.m. EST and we're going to talk about my upcoming stuff - thankx to all the Washington DC'ers who gave FAITH the thumbs up on the River of Life contest. She won LIFE...thanks a 1,000,000 - they say it's rare that someone survives! Faith deserves all that and so much more. We'll see you guys next week! Have fun at 106.7 FM.
www.wjfk.com Posted on 8/28/2008
Tinker Air Force Base - Friends and Soldiers
TINKER Air Force Base in Midwest City was the place to be today!! Faith and I went to visit the friends, families, and co-workers of all the beautiful soldiers and civilians working at the base's BX. We had a great time. I will e-mail the photos to my webmaster and he can put them up. I still haven't figured out how to do that - even with his step by step instructions. Good thing I'm a speaker and not a computer geek huh? We'd all be in trouble! Faith wore her new official ACUs made for her by retired Army Sgt F/C Jason Davis of Fort Bragg! We love seeing her strut around town in her new clothes. She may be the only dog wearing actual ACUs but that's OK. She had a great time at the base and met a few hundred of Oklahoma City's finest folks. Thanks Deborah for picking us up and taking us onto the base. We'll get the right papers next time!! LOL
Posted on 8/23/2008
PEOPLE - UPDATE - Two More Weeks to Wait
OOPS...there was a story meeting at PEOPLE and the story was pushed back 2 weeks. I don't know if that means September 1 or 8. I'll keep you posted. It gives them more time to think about what to write about - and the producer told me he now has a bit more room to cover a few more things! This is good news. Faith and I both want to acknowledge and thank Johnny Dodd of PEOPLE for his commitment to the story and to Faith. You're a great friend! So, please keep watching the site for more information - - of course, you can always, always, always, just keep buying every issue of PEOPLE until you see Faith - they'd probably appreciate that! SMILE. (The pretty girl with Faith in the photo is Sasha Gill of Salon Rebel. She did our hair and makeup for the shoot!)
www.people.com Posted on 8/18/2008
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2008 USA TEAM
Our teams are awesome! I have to give out a real loud SHOUT OUT to Jon Horton from OU - Men's gymnastics superstar in my eyes. Anyone from OKLAHOMA is always on the top of my list. I'm going to do a Google search and find a few more Oklahomans, but really - let me hug and squeeze every single US Olympic Team member! You guys ROCK. GO TEAM USA....Go WORLD. (Remember, Faith is 1/2 Chinese! Her mother is/was a Chow-Chow!)
Posted on 8/12/2008
REUBEN is here for ONE MORE week
I'm telling you, the boy is all over the state - and soon, maybe tomorrow, he'll be all over Arkansas too! He has so many friends and people to love on before he takes off for the Middle East. I hope you all pray for him, and just hug the man if you see him. I have some more photos, and I'm trying to upload them. I'll have to ask my webmaster to help. Thanks for your prayers and love!
Posted on 8/12/2008