Fur-ever Home: the story of NGU’s campus pup
Tolli McWhite, Staff Writer
For those who don’t know, during the spring semester of 2021, there was a stray dog wandering the NGU campus that had decided to make the university its home. Students adored the dog and gave it many different names. Some suggested he could have been the new mascot.
But, when winter’s chill brought about snow on campus, the campus pooch was taken in by a student, and began the journey to his fur-ever home.
February 2021 snow fell in Tigerville — that’s when Madeline Merrell [now Wilder] took pity on the stray dog that had been wandering around campus, and brought him blankets and food.
The dog was very shy around people but, because she was persistent she started to bond with him. After about two months of keeping an eye on the dog, campus security approached Merrell and her boyfriend [now husband] Sam Wilder, and asked for assistance catching the dog and finding a home for it.
After some convincing, Merrell and Wilder made the decision to adopt him together and keep him at Wilder’s house off campus until they were married. A year later Merrell and Wilder were married and they became a family of three.
“Sam was more hesitant about adopting Obi at first, but overtime he also began to bond with him when he was a stray…. now the three of us are inseparable and we couldn’t imagine our lives without Obi,” said Madeline Wilder.
While the story sounds like a perfect movie ending, there were a lot of bumps along the way for the transitioning stray. He had worms and stomach issues, and was sedated the first night he spent inside. With the help of veterinarians and love from the Wilders, he is now in near perfect health.
Obi is now two years old and back at his original home, the North Greenville campus, with a place in married housing.
