By now, you've probably seen the pictures or heard about that dude from Wisconsin and his old, sick and arthritic dog named Schoep. If you haven't, here's the story:
The unconditional love of a dog is a powerful thing. Just ask John Unger of Bayfield, Wis.
For the past 19 years, Unger’s loyal companion has been a shepherd mix named Schoep. Unger learned two weeks ago that his dog had severe arthritis and may need to be put down soon. He was devastated — and also determined to help alleviate Schoep’s pain.
Unger knew that people suffering from arthritis respond well to water therapy, so he brought his aging dog to one of their favorite spots: Lake Superior. His idea was to take advantage of the lake’s higher-than-average temperatures this summer and let Schoep feel weightless and relaxed. Considering the grim prognosis from the veterinarian, Unger also called his photographer friend, Hannah Stonehouse Hudson, to see whether she had time to capture a special photo of Schoep just in case.
Stonehouse Hudson met them at the lake for about five minutes and snapped a few shots. A few days later on Aug. 1, she uploaded her favorite image of the man and his dog to Facebook — and an Internet sensation was unleashed.
As of Thursday, the photo on her Stonehouse Photography Facebook page had nearly 300,000 likes and 32,000 comments. Since the photo went viral, Unger has been trying to adjust to his sudden popularity
This story doesn't make much of an impact when you read about it, but wait until you see pictures and/or watch the news report. When you do, you'll be lucky not to break down and start crying like KFOR's Meg Alexander nearly did on the air last week:
What do you think, Moles? Was that a real emotional outburst or a fake one? I'm leaning towards real. I know Meg Alexander can be a bit over the top and dramatic when she's on the air, but that story was both depressing and heart-warming. It was like a double-dose of sad. It had such an effect on me that I just gave my dog a belly rub for 10-minutes. I also gave him an entire stick of Pup-Peroni.
All that being said, the whole story is still kind of cheesy and sappy. Maybe that's because it's difficult for me to take any man with a ponytail seriously. Watch out for dudes like that. All they really want to do in life is fly model airplanes and talk about their favorite Rush albums. Plus, it's not like the dog is a puppy or anything. It's 19-years-old. In dog years, that's older than Ronnie Kaye! Isn't it time the owner does the right thing and...
You know what, screw it. I'm going to go pet my dog some more. Have a great Monday.
