It was one of those soggy, gray afternoons in Selma, California, when teenager Ubaldo Apolinar heard faint scratching coming from the front door.
He opened it and found a tiny puppy sitting on the porch, trembling as she tried to hide from the pounding rain. Ubaldo immediately wanted to bring her inside, but his parents told him she couldn’t stay.
Even so, he couldn’t just turn away from a little dog who so obviously needed warmth, safety, and someone to care.
A Puppy Alone In The Storm
Seeing how cold and frightened she was, Ubaldo ran to grab some food from his own dog’s supply to feed her.
“At first, she backed away a little bit, but I kept getting closer to her, and once I pet her, she basically trusted me,” Ubaldo told The Dodo.
He had no idea where the puppy had come from, but as a dog owner himself, he knew she needed care.
The puppy wore a pink collar, which made him believe she must have a home and that someone was probably missing her.
To help her reunite with her family, Ubaldo posted photos of her in local Facebook groups and waited for someone to respond.
While he waited, he kept her fed, warm, and dry.
He asked his parents if she could stay inside just for the night, but they declined since their landlord only allowed one dog, and they already had Rocky.
“My sister and I hung out with her out on the porch in the afternoon, and then we played with her […] I was worried about her being outside in the cold at night, so I made a little house for her out of an old cardboard box. But I couldn’t stop thinking about her at night, so I just snuck her in while my parents were asleep,” Ubaldo said.
Late that night, he quietly brought her inside and let her rest in the bathroom. He played with her, made sure she felt safe, and even made a tiny sweater out of an old sock to keep her warm.
“I was getting attached to her. I wish I could have kept her, but I knew the right thing to do was to take her back to her owners,” Ubaldo said.
Reunited At Last
The following morning, Ubaldo’s parents discovered the puppy, but soon after, a message appeared from someone who believed the dog was theirs.
“I got a potential owner request and after light social media stalking and passing by her house, her story checked out,” Ubaldo said.
It turned out the family lived nearby in Selma. They arranged to meet later that day so the puppy could finally go home.
“Right before I returned her, I played with her one last time in the yard with the tennis ball she liked to play with, and I enjoyed the time with her. She was very fun to hung out with. She was very spunky and adorable,” Ubaldo said.
When he met the family, the owner’s daughter told him that the little pup’s name was Bubba.
After days of worry, Bubba was safely reunited with her loved ones.
Even better, she didn’t live far away, meaning Ubaldo could visit