The August floods that devastated Nepal’s Trishuli River valley destroyed homes and took hundreds of lives, and one family in the Nuwakot district feared the water had taken their dog too. When the flood approached, they tried to move Sweetie to safety, but Sweetie is deaf and could not hear them calling, so she stayed put. With the water rising, the family had no choice but to flee without her.
Days later, Shoba Shrestha came back to the mud-filled neighborhood looking for her dog. Sweetie was still there. The reunion was a quiet one, no dramatic sprint, just Shrestha sitting on the ground beside her dog, stroking her and offering water from a bottle. It was also bittersweet: the family’s other dog did not survive the disaster, and across the flood zone thousands of families are sorting through similar loss.
What owners can take from Sweetie’s story
Emergency plans need to account for dogs who cannot hear a shouted recall. A deaf dog, a senior with fading senses, or a puppy who has not learned to come when called all need a backup: a leash or carrier within reach, a go bag with food and meds, and identification kept current in case you do get separated. Sweetie survived on her own turf until her person came back, but not every dog gets that lucky.
Her survival echoes other rescues we have covered this year, like the 70 dogs saved after a storm toppled their Indiana trailer. Nothing erases the scale of Nepal’s loss, but one family getting their dog back alive is a small piece of good news worth holding onto. iHeartDogs has the full story, with video of the reunion.