Elwin Churchill knows what it’s like to be shot.

FARMINGTON (AP) – Perhaps it’s no surprise that the wounded collie-shepherd and the disabled Vietnam veteran who rescued him forged a fast friendship.

They share a common bond: each suffered traumatic injuries from a bullet to the head.

The tan and white house dog is recuperating at Clearwater Veterinary Hospital, where Elwin Churchill shows up twice a day to slowly walk him on a leash.

The dog, who appears content to rest his metal-encased head on a lap for gentle petting, has captured the heart of Churchill, who found him wounded and bleeding along a road and brought him to the hospital.

Churchill named the dog “Patterson” – after veterinarian Dr. Robert Patterson, who performed emergency surgery Friday.

“This dog and I have a lot in common. I was in Vietnam in ’67 and ’68 and I still have part of a bullet in my head,” said Churchill, who was 18 when he was wounded in a firefight.

He suffers from post-traumatic stress syndrome and lives in a secluded home not far from the spot on Mosher Hill Road where he found Patterson while driving into town Friday morning with his grown son.

“We could see he was hurt – bad. We hot-footed it to the clinic and called the animal control officer,” Churchill said.

But it would have taken too long for Wayne Atwood to drive to Farmington from Jay so the Churchills rushed back to get the dog.

“We found him in the middle of the road and when I pulled over, the dog crawled under the truck. He was looking for a place to die,” Churchill said. “There was quite a lot of blood and I figured he had either been hit by a car, kicked by a deer or moose or someone shot him.”

Churchill coaxed the blood-covered dog out, gently lifted him up and placed him on blankets in the back of his pickup.

The bond between the two started there. “I told him not to give up on me,” he said, his voice cracking.

The bullet entered on the right side of the dog’s mouth, shattering several teeth and the jaw and tearing the tongue before exiting the throat. Because of the young dog’s good general health, Patterson opted to operate. In a painstakingly slow procedure, he removed multiple bone fragments from the wound and put back together what remained.

With his jaw reconstructed and wired shut, the dog can now lap small amounts of pureed food and water, although much of it falls out again. He is on antibiotics and painkillers.

Clinic staff, who are watching for signs of infection, say if he gets through the next few days and the bone begins to knit, he will survive.

Churchill, who cannot work and has limited income, said he would like to adopt Patterson if no one else steps forward.

“I won’t let him be put down. He is a good dog and has been through a lot. He needs a good home,” he said.

Animal lovers have been sending donations to the clinic to help defer the costs of Patterson’s care.

Farmington police are helping Atwood investigate the shooting.

AP-ES-03-18-04 0217EST

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