Once Upon a Time…specifically on February 2nd, 2018 in the mountainous village of Aguas da Prata in Brazil, a “cachorro de rua” or more familiarly known as a street dog, decided to leave the only place he knew to go on an adventure. P.s. this is a picture when I took him back 2 years later…
He decided to follow a group of American runners competing in the BR135 - a 135 mile ultramarathon. He only weighed 25 pounds, had fleas and ticks all over and smelled really bad but had a big heart and made us all smile with his personality.
After 12 hours and 40+ miles of following us we became trail friends and decided to treat him like one of the runners - water, food and good company.
Then after 24 hours on the trail, I was not doing well. My feet had really bad blisters that had become infected. I decided to part ways with my friends and with that dog who followed us far away from his village to keep us company. After many hours in an ambulance, I felt strong enough to begin taking one step at a time towards my destination, sadly without the dog that had befriended us. And then another step. And then it was past midnight, in the mountains of Brazil where I sat down for a rest, admiring the stars and realized that the dog that followed us all day and then lost us, had somehow found me 6 hours later in the middle of the night, on the top of a mountain and it made me very, very happy.
We stayed together that night and the next day. We called him Rover, then Fido but finally Lucky Caminho (Brazilian word for trail) which felt right. He slept in his first posada room that night and then the next day we happily persevered through another 50 miles of mountains and heat.
After our second day together we reached the end of the Ultramarathon. We were greeted by many folks who had heard of the stray dog that followed the Americans! And, at the finish line of the BR135 Lucky Caminho was awarded a Finisher’s Medal.
Lucky Caminho stayed with me for the third night and we continued on the Caminho da Fe (Trail of Faith) towards our ultimate goal of the Basilica in Apericida. Now he was not doing well. We did not know and found out later that he had a heart disease from a tick, anemia and was suffering from malnutrition. Before the last mountain climb and after 160 miles, I felt that he might hurt himself going any further and decided it was time to put him in the car and meet us at the finish.
We went in to a church as pilgrims of the path and a priest told us to take Lucky to a woman in the next town who could help him. The priest believed Lucky was a spirit who had chosen us and the vet would help him. The vet told us we should take him home but that he would need a rabies shot that might kill him in his current condition. As some force put us together in the first place, I decided we needed to take the risk if he was to leave with me the next day. When I came back the next morning, Lucky was alive, bathed, full of energy and so happy to see us!
I arrived home in Jacksonville Florida and the next day Lucky arrived. When his crate was brought into the hangar, he must have known in the distance that I was there for I heard his crying and howling with joy before I ever set eyes on him.
Lucky’s love, spirit and perseverance touched us all. Nivaldo even wrote a song…
Lucky and I have had many more running adventures together…we ran from Jacksonville Beach to Key West. I even took him back to run the Caminho da Fe together again and while he is the best untrained / trained dog anyone has ever seen - he never runs on a leash even on roads and follows always right behind me - he sometimes gets into trouble at hotels opening the door when I leave to go roam the hallways until I get back!
To follow more of Luck Caminho’s journey check out the links below!
Stray Dog Journeys with Runners Across Brazil’s Daunting Caminho da Fe
Magical things happen on Jacksonville man’s running adventures
Local man adopts stray dog after it follows him 160 miles through Brazillian mountains
P.S. Mid April 2021
With the plan set, lucky and I ran from Jacksonville Beach to northern Georgia over 400 miles with no collar and no leash, just like we have done for the past three years and thousands of miles together. I developed a stress fracture in early April and needed to stop and let it heal so while back home rehabbing, we noticed that lucky was having bloody diarrhea.
Within two weeks we received the very sad news that Lucky has cancer: a big tumor in his colon and the reason for blood, liver and in his lymphatic system. On Friday May 7 he had not eaten in 3 days, was detached and having trouble breathing. We began planning to put him down on Saturday when our Vet called to let us know the biopsy confirmed it is lymphoma and that while it is not curable, in some cases it can be put into remission. Dr. Walker at Capital Vet told us he would wait for us on Friday night if we wanted to try…
My wife Monica and my son Gabe and I now had a decision to make. We agreed that is was paramount to try to help him. After all, he is a very unique once in a lifetime companion. So we proceeded straight to Dr. Walker Friday at 6pm to administer the first course of chemo. Two weeks later after the second course of chemo the tumor in the colon was all but gone and the cancer in the liver had almost disappeared - Lucky was in remission! We are now on the road running together. Lucky has his ups and downs regarding appetite and fatigue - but his heart is always there in the morning when it’s time to go out and running the open road. We start every morning together going around 15 miles before he looks back at me, nodding that it’s time ride in the co-pilots seat with Chris from here on.
If you meet Lucky for the first time you would never know he has cancer unless you notice all four legs and belly are shaved where they administer the chemo and do the ultra sound. This may be his last rodeo but while we are riding, he is strong, happy and doing what he dreams of doing - running together as when we first met and Lucky chose me as his mate.
A BIG Thank you to the Veterinarians and Techs who have made this possible:
Dr. Mary Cleary - Jacksonville FL
Dr. Mark Walker & Techs at Capital Veterinarians - Jacksonville FL
Dr. Miller & Techs - Animal Emergency & Specialty Center - Chatanooga TN
Dr. Havis, Dr. Ross, Jeana, Allison, Katelyn & Techs - University of Missouri Animal Hospital - Columbia MO
Dr. Hawkins - Pony Express Veterinarians - Marysville KS
Dr. Beebout - Hilltop Pet Clinic - Kearney NE
Dr. Chytka - Oshkosh Animal Repair - Oshkosh, NE
Dr. Reese - Animal Health Center - Scottsbluff, NE
Colorado State Veterinary teaching hospital - Fort Collins, CO
Dr. Morgan - Mountainaire Animal Clinic - North Rock Springs, WY
RIP: Lucky Caminho ??/??/??-8/24/21
Today we lost a loving member of our family, a friend to the running community and my canine soul mate.
On February 2, 2018 in the village of Aguas da Prata in Brazil he chose me by following a group of Americans for 140 miles on the Caminho da Fe (Trail of Faith). He has been at my side running since then. In April we learned that he had lymphoma - we made the decision to give him a chance to live. Since that fateful day he has crossed 2,500 miles of the United States of America with me, chased cows, horses, rabbits and antelopes. Climbed mountains, jumped in rivers and lakes and licked the bottom of every bowl of ice cream I have eaten since I left. He also ran every day with me - even 15 miles yesterday. Until today, when he simply could not. Not because he didn’t want to, our signal was: every morning I would ask him, “Do you want to run?” And he would bark “yes”. Today he barked “yes” but 100 feet later he stopped and looked at me to let me know it wasn’t possible. A visit to the vet let us know the cancer had spread to his lungs on top of everything else.
Lucky went to sleep today, peacefully, in control and happy. He will be deeply missed, never forgotten and a standard for which a perfect relationship between man and dog can be measured.
Rescue one of these special souls and make a friend for life!