This rescue dog and his owner have both learned to face adversity with admirable courage, leaning on each other for support. Seeing them together is enough to bring tears to our eyes! Ruth Gentry shared the sweetest video on TikTok of her young son, Roan, reading a book out loud to their dog, Sammy. You wouldn’t necessarily be able to tell from the footage, but the little boy struggles with reading due to his dyslexia. Meanwhile, Sammy is in a wheelchair.
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Ruth explained to Newsweek that she first noticed her child was having trouble in school in 2022. It didn’t help that, around the same time, the family lost their two beloved dogs. Roan had been especially close to one of the elderly pooches, so the loss wasn’t easy for him.
“He was escaping to the bathroom to get away from class everyday, having problems with other kids, and coming home crying and angry,” she recalled.
Meanwhile, Sammy the dog was having a pretty rough life. After being abandoned with the rest of his litter, this poor pup was found and rescued by Churchill Animal Protection Society (CAPS). He was in pretty bad shape at that point. Thankfully, the shelter was able to nurse him back to health.
Roan and the rescue dog were instant best friends.
Ruth Gentry took her son to CAPS in the hopes of finding another rescue dog to adopt. When Roan and Sammy met, it was love at first sight! Their relationship became a huge comfort to the little boy as he struggled with dyslexia.
“He helped us with our grief and helped me get Roan to school,” his mom said. “I could see it was helping Roan emotionally after school as he would often come home and curl up with Sammy and pass out, he was so exhausted.”
Sammy also motivated Roan as he went through tutoring to help with his reading skills. Although dyslexia made the process very difficult for the little boy, the rescue dog’s presence made a big difference.
“He is still shy about reading, but Sammy helps him with this,” Ruth explained. “Roan now wants to read a book every night to Sammy. He used to throw books across the room. The transformation has been amazing!”
However, there was a time when Roan’s family wasn’t sure if they would be able to keep Sammy. After the pooch got hurt in an accident, he was unable to use his back legs. It was a struggle to care for him as he adjusted to using a wheelchair. Still, Ruth knew how important the rescue dog was to her son. Although by this point the little boy had not been diagnosed with dyslexia, she recognized that Roan was having trouble. She didn’t want him to think that they were giving up on the dog just because he needed a little extra help.
“I knew Roan had some issues or learning disabilities that had not been diagnosed yet and giving up Sammy would send the wrong message to him,” she said.
Although the road hasn’t been easy for Roan or his rescue dog, they’re still facing the world together. Their bond is truly something special!
You can find the source of this story’s featured image here.
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