GRANITE FALLS – Several years ago – hard to say exactly when – a large tan dog showed up by the side of the Mountain Loop Highway.
Sad to say, abandoning a dog is an all-too-common event for this rural stretch of road. Most folks assumed the same had happened again.
This particular dog refused to follow the scripted story.
No wandering back home on an epic journey. No hopping into the car of a family rescuing it to a life of spoiled luxury.
This is the tale of Lucky, the pudgy roadside stray.
Some cynics call him Roadkill, but the dog has avoided that ending. He has avoided getting taken to the pound, too.
Another nickname, Hobo, is closer to the truth, except he won’t accept rides. The stray mutt has lived a roadside life on his own terms.
Starvation’s not a concern, not with so many soft-hearted people living nearby.
Michele Whitt-Smith, is one of a few locals who has been feeding the dog regularly for at least the past five years. She lives a few miles up the valley in Robe.
“He knows about what time every day that I’ll be down,” Whitt-Smith said.
She’s not the only one who feeds him. The dog’s hefty figure suggests he enjoys some between-meal snacks, too, said Diane Boyd, who lives farther up the valley in Silverton and works at the Verlot Ranger Station.
“I’m sure he’s eaten a lot of French fries,” Boyd said. “He probably has high cholesterol. We’re not saying he has a well-balanced diet.”
Whitt-Smith said she slips the dog some anti-worm medicine with the food from time to time.
Lucky refuses to let people touch him, the two women each said. If an unknown car pulls over, he moves away into the trees and brush, they said.
Many have tried to rescue the dog, but he’s not interested, they said.
He knows the cars of people who feed him, they said.
“He doesn’t go very far away,” Boyd said. “Then the minute you drive off, he’ll come right out and inspect the food, see if it’s what he wants. And what he doesn’t eat, the crows get, because they hang around. They know.”
Even Whitt-Smith can only get within a few feet of the dog.
“I call him Lucky because I think he is pretty darn lucky to have lasted as long as he has,” Whitt-Smith said.
Boyd has been looking out for the dog for years, too. She calls him Sandy, because he tends to roam around Sand Hill.
Most folks aren’t even sure of the dog’s gender, because few can get close enough to tell, Boyd said.
“We’re assuming he’s a boy since we’ve never seen any puppies,” Boyd said.
Whitt-Smith, who gets closer than most, said Lucky is a male.
Eric Wiseman knew nothing about Lucky several weeks ago when he left his Everett home with a friend to climb Mount Pilchuck. Approaching Sand Hill, they noticed a large, tan dog relaxed on the side of the road.
“He was just laying right there along the fog line, right there, watching every car that comes by,” Wiseman said.
He reported the abandoned dog to the Forest Service ranger station in Verlot, only to be told Lucky’s story.
“What’s neat about it is so many people, you could tell, would like to catch it, but he’s got a better deal for himself,” Wiseman said. “He likes his independence.”
Antisocial with people, Lucky has been seen in the company of coyotes, Whitt-Smith said.
She worries about Lucky. He’s not moving as easily as he used to. His gray muzzle suggests to her that he’s 8, maybe 10 years old.
Lucky hangs out near a blind spot to drivers, so she worries he’ll get hit by a car now that he’s slowing down.
On sunny days, he’ll warm himself on the pavement, she said. When the shade closes in on that spot, he’ll cross the road to a sunnier patch, she said.
In rainy weather, he stays away, Whitt-Smith said. His thick coat of fur seems to help him weather life in the rainforest, Boyd said.
Despite their concerns as he ages, Lucky’s story continues to inspire them.
“It’s just amazing,” Whitt-Smith said. “He definitely has beaten the odds.”
“I know when he’s gone everybody’s sure going to miss him,” Boyd said.
Reporter Scott Morris: 425-339-3292 or smorris@heraldnet.com.
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