"As we were going up, I was explaining that when we love things, sometimes it hurts, but we have to let them go," Jenny said. "But the longer Patrick lived, I became much, much more hopeful."

Maylee said she continued praying all the way up. After all, for as long as she could remember, she'd been begging for this dog.

Jenny Blauer said her daughter had been asking for a dog "since she could talk," adding, "but I'm not a dog person."

Her daughter persisted as her 10th birthday approached, and Jenny began softening. Eventually they found Patrick on the Internet. He was the breed they'd researched — small but rugged — and unlike a lot of other purebreds, he was free.

"One night my mom and dad took me in the car alone," Maylee said. "They said I was in trouble. But my mom was talking to my aunt and she said the word 'dog."'

It was love at first sight.

"I am really lucky," she said of her first thoughts.

The two became fast friends and constant companions, as she even sneaked him out of his kennel and into her bed when Mom wasn't looking.

"He finds Maylee," said Jenny. "He follows her all over the place."

The morning after Thanksgiving, Maylee and her father loaded a much perkier Patrick into the car and took him to a Pet Smart Hospital in Taylorsville. They recounted their story to the vet who wasn't so sure it was accurate.

"He said, 'If that's the way it happened, that's a death sentence,"' Anthony said. Maylee told him she'd seen it happen, but he still expressed disbelief.

That, the vet said, would be a miracle.

For not only was Patrick going to live, but he didn't suffer any broken bones and only needed some antibiotics (for the road rash) and pain pills.

Maylee knows some may doubt her story, but she isn't worried about convincing them otherwise. She's too busy enjoying her new best friend.

Besides, she knows exactly why Patrick survived.

"Because I prayed for him, and he's a miracle dog."

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E-mail: adonaldson@desnews.com