When Emily Trost and her boyfriend headed out on a 10-week road trip, the last thing they expected was to come home with an extra member of the family. The pair had stopped at a gas station in Montana, and when they came out from the shop, they found a tiny puppy waiting for them next to their car.
“Our initial thought was that she was the pet of someone else using the gas station,” Emily told The Dodo. “My boyfriend and I went around to others at the gas station asking if she was theirs. We also waited with her to see if somebody came out of the gas station store to claim her. Nobody did, and as we were waiting, we realized how dirty she was with thorns, twigs and pricklies all caught in her long hair and our hearts broke for her.”
In the short time since they had met the puppy, both Emily and her boyfriend had already become attached to her, and it soon became apparent that she didn’t have an owner.
Their suspicions were confirmed when a local woman stopped at the gas station and told the pair that she had been feeding the puppy, along with some other strays, for some time. She reassured the couple that the puppy was well-natured, and begged them to take her home with them.
Looking at the puppy’s sweet face, Emily and her boyfriend knew that they had two options: either take the puppy back to their home or take her to a rescue center.
Leaving her out on the streets wasn’t going to be an option.
“Within minutes of driving away with her in the car, we knew she was coming home with us,” Emily said.
Emily and her boyfriend decided to name their new puppy Montana, after the state that they had found her in. Instead of going straight home, the couple decided to continue their travels – and now Montana was going to be a part of their adventure!
“The morning after we got her was the best,” Emily said. “She woke up in our tent and started crawling up to our heads, whimpering and giving us kisses. We could tell she was truly surprised that we were still there with her and that no human had probably ever stayed with her for that long.”
For the first few days with her new owners, the 7-month-old pup slept a lot- as if she finally felt safe enough to be able to properly rest.
Then once she was all rested up, her true personality began to shine through.
“She loved the rest of the trip, always excited to hike and swim with us,” Emily said. “She was great in the car and would just lay down and sleep. She even loved sleeping in the tent every night and learned very quickly that wherever our tent was set up was home.”
Montana’s life has now totally been transformed for the better – and none of this would have been possible if Emily and her boyfriend hadn’t have needed to stop for gas.
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