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They headed to Tennessee to celebrate the impending nuptials of Mitchel Craddock with a five-day ATV-riding trip. Craddock would say goodbye to bachelorhood surrounded by his best buddies, enjoying time at a cabin in the woods. But the group would come back to their home state of Michigan with more than just memories.
“We were cooking bacon with the door open. The next thing you know, there’s this dog sitting right at the front door. She wouldn’t come inside, but she sat right there,” Craddock told MLive.
They named the dog Annie. She scarfed down all the men would give her, enjoying lots of cool, fresh water, as well. Naturally, the meal gave Annie incentive to linger.
“We’d ride for 4-5 hours, or go into town, and every time we’d come back she would either be sitting on our doorstep or under one of our trucks,” Craddock said.
From left, Jake Rowe with Knox, Joe Gruber with Bear, Alex Manchester with Rosie, Doug Craddock with Annie, Mitchel Craddock with Brimmie, Brent Witters holding Finn and Dexter Jennings holding Gunner. (Photo: Bryan Bennett/Kalamazoo Gazette-MLive Media Group via AP)
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At some point, they noticed that Annie was lactating and upon a bit of investigation, they discovered her litter — seven puppies — squirreled away in a den just down the road. Despite Annie’s malnourished appearance, the pups, which were estimated at about 5-6 weeks old, were very healthy.
“We were proud of her,” Craddock said. “She gave everything she had to those puppies.”
He had no intention of taking a pup (he is already “dad” to a chocolate Lab!) but his bride-to-be insisted they keep one.
Once we got the puppies out of the hole, we knew we couldn’t just leave them, so we started figuring out where they would go,” he said.
Each of the men took one of the puppies, whom they named Brimmie, Rosie, Daisy, Knox, Gunner, Bear and Finn. Craddock’s grandparents took Mama Annie, as well as one of her pups.
We can’t think of better gifts for a gang of groomsmen!
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