Twelve months after being rescued in Niverville, Bodie thriving in new home

Twelve months after a severely malnourished dog was found wandering the streets of Niverville, his adoptive owner says Bodie has doubled his weight and is looking good.

Last May, Bodie was rescued in Niverville. A veterinarian drove into town that night to open her clinic and check on the dog's condition. He was taken in by Steinbach and Area Animal Rescue and reported to be in very rough shape. 

Eventually, Dave Kwitecki and his family took in Bodie as a foster but that did not last long. Bodie was soon adopted by the Kwitecki family.

"We basically fell in love with Bodie," says Kwitecki. "He became one of the family, so we took him under our wing."

Kwitecki says what may have been the deciding factor that Bodie was theirs, came one day when they left the dog alone at home for the first time while they went to Winnipeg. Kwitecki says they left the front door unlocked because of arrangements they had made to have someone come check on Bodie. Kwitecki says Bodie must have been hungry so he opened the front door of the home, went for a walk around town, and must have got his fill in someone's backyard.

"When he came back home, he was full of dirt and mud and laying on the couch," says Kwitecki. "He knew this was his forever home and he just came right back to it and laid back on the couch."

What Bodie looked like 12 months ago (left photo) and what he looks like today (right photo). Submitted photos.

Kwitecki says when they first picked up Bodie, he weighed 42 pounds. 

"He was underweight, dehydrated," says Kwitecki. "He was not in good shape."

One year later, Kwitecki says Bodie has doubled his weight and is a healthy 88 pounds. 

"He's looking fine," adds Kwitecki. "He's still got a little bit of food allergies that we've got to figure out, because we don't know what happened to him in his past."

Kwitecki says he has rescued other dogs before, but notes it was still heartbreaking to see Bodie's condition when he first came in. However, for his wife, this was her first rescue and Kwitecki says he could see her slowly falling in love with their dog. 

Knowing that Bodie would only get bigger and stronger, they decided to bring someone in to train Bodie with his wife. 

"My wife amazingly now can take him for walks, do whatever, she has him in complete control," says Kwitecki. "He's almost 90 pounds and my wife is 120, so he could really pull her around if he wanted to."

Kwitecki says Bodie is very well-behaved on a leash and is overall an amazing dog. He notes it is hard to recognize Bodie today compared to what he looked like a year ago. But, in reflecting on that day, Kwitecki says Bodie knew all along that they were there to help him. He recalls how Bodie had just sunk into his arms when he first picked him up. 

"Most dogs would snap at you because they don't know you," he explains. "He was very present at the moment, he knew that we were there to help him, and we did, we took his life and turned it around and he's obviously changed our life as well."

In fact, Kwitecki says Bodie is probably the best dog he has ever had. 

Bodie with the Kwitecki family. (Submitted photos)

With files from Kenton Dyck