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A DOG'S TALE 'Little Dog's past and present come into focus Comment By Buffy Pollock for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Buffy Pollock for the Mail Tribune Posted Jan. 26, 2015 at 2:00 AM Updated Jan 26, 2015 at 10:41 AM By Buffy Pollock for the Mail Tribune Posted Jan. 26, 2015 at 2:00 AM Updated Jan 26, 2015 at 10:41 AM » RELATED CONTENT • A new home for Little Dog » Social News While it took a wandering canine a few attempts to find a happy ending, the mystery of his beginnings were discovered after a Medford neighborhood banded together to find a permanent home for the shy, homeless canine. "Little Dog," a brown and white Pekingese who spent several months living on a vacant lot inside Sky Lakes Village, was featured in the Mail Tribune on Christmas Day. Neighbors in the Cedar Links area had reached out to tell the story of the dog and his pursuit of happiness. Showing up in the neighborhood sometime around late September, the dog hung out on a vacant property, bonded with a stray cat and routinely followed along as neighbors took their own dogs on walks. Nearing late December, neighbors worried about looming cold weather. Without a family to call his own and seemingly intimidated by two-legged creatures, the pooch had befriended neighborhood dogs and ultimately decided to trust Sky Lakes resident Valerie Weber just enough to accept a shelter and bedding on her front porch. With three dogs of her own, who befriended the little Pekingese, Weber acted as guardian for the dog but worked quickly to find him a permanent home. As his future was being decided, the mystery of where he came from lingered for those in his newfound fan club until Medford resident Rick Stevens, who lives only a stone's throw from Weber, glanced at the Christmas Day newspaper. Stevens, it turns out, had evicted some wayward tenants from a rental property last summer in Prospect. After a series of mishaps, the couple got into trouble, trashed Steven's property and moved out, abandoning their two dogs — a pit bull and, it turns out, the Pekingese. Stevens urged the pet owners to come back for their pets but only the pit bull was retrieved. "I had a neighbor help me get ahold of this bad tenant and they were able to finally come back and take the pit bull, but the little dog I don't know if they didn't want him or it was as much that we couldn't catch him for awhile," Stevens said. "He finally kind of warmed up to (the neighbor) where she could pet him. I came over one day and he let me pick him up. He seemed pretty friendly. He even let me put him in the back of my car." Venturing from Prospect into Medford, Stevens was attempting to get the pooch groomed in west Medford when the dog did what he knew best. He ran. "The plan was to give him a bath and get him cleaned up. I went to open my car door and this dog took off like a wild animal. I couldn't believe it was like a total personality change. He ran like his life depended on it," Stevens said. After weeks of checking nearby fields and neighborhoods, Stevens was left to wonder about the dog he had tried to help, feeling guilty for losing him in unfamiliar territory. At nearly the same time, Weber and her neighbors were wondering about the history of the lonely little dog who lived on scraps and shied from people. "To see a story about this little dog in the paper was very heartwarming," Stevens said. "I think he was kind of raised like a wild animal and just had never bonded to someone and had them stick around." Though Little Dog struck out at his first attempted home, neighbors matched Little Dog to Medford resident Shelby Viana. The real test, Viana said of the pooch, who she's renamed Teddy, is that he stays close to her side whether he's on a leash or not. "The people from the neighborhood all warned me that he wasn't really potty trained and would take time to warm up to people," she said. "They made sure I knew he was a runner. "One morning when I was leaving for work, he snuck out the fence and I was so afraid he was going to run away. I called his name and he sprinted right back to me so fast he looked like he was coming to attack.," she said with a laugh. "I've honestly never known a dog that was so loyal like he is. He loves me the most out of everybody else in the house. When I come in the door, he gets really excited to see me. It's weird but it feels like he's always been here." She added, "I really think he finally feels at home and he's decided to settle down from his wild ways." Buffy Pollock is a freelance writer living in Medford. E-mail her at [email protected]. By Buffy Pollock for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Buffy Pollock for the Mail Tribune Posted Jan. 26, 2015 at 2:00 AM Updated Jan 26, 2015 at 10:41 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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