A Labrador-pointer mix dog named Waffles, long known for escaping her Mount Pleasant yard and making herself at home throughout the Planter’s Pointe neighborhood, inspired something that will stay in one place: a bridge.
The Paws Over the Rainbow Bridge, located near the Park West Recreation Fields, is a memorial where families can hang collars, tags and other keepsakes to honor the pets they’ve lost.
“She was like my partner in raising them,” Mount Pleasant resident Candace Johnson said of Waffles’ role in her three sons’ lives. “She was like my everything.”
The bridge, completed in March 2026, is inspired by Johnson and her three sons, Mason, James and Reeves, after the loss of Waffles. With the help of local businesses and community members, Johnson’s idea became a place for families throughout the Lowcountry to remember their pets.
But before Waffles became the inspiration behind a community memorial, she was something of a neighborhood celebrity.
The black-and-white pet had a habit of escaping her yard, despite Johnson’s attempts to keep her contained. Whether it was a fence or an electric collar, Waffles always seemed to find a way out. But she never wandered too far, and she always came home.
“She ended up becoming everyone’s dog,” Johnson said.
Neighbors began documenting the adventures of Waffles on the neighborhood Facebook page, where the hashtag #waffles became a familiar sight. Even posts about animals that weren’t Waffles occasionally earned the hashtag #notwaffles.
Johnson recalled one neighbor posting a picture of an alligator with the hashtag #notwaffles. Another neighbor told her that their dentist had even asked about the famous dog.
“She brought so much laughter where people could be pissed in our neighborhood, like, ‘This dog’s out again,’ ” Johnson said.
What could have been a neighborhood nuisance instead became something that brought people together.
A dog everyone knew
Johnson adopted Waffles through Petfinder when she was just a 14-week-old pup. At the time, Johnson was living in Chicago and raising her three sons.
Before adopting Waffles, Johnson gave a plant to the boys to care for over six months to see whether they were ready for the responsibility of a dog.
When the family moved to Mount Pleasant in 2020, Waffles quickly made herself at home. She loved other dogs, but Johnson said she especially adored the neighborhood children, whom Waffles’ affectionately called her “puppies.”
The dog’s wandering habits made her a familiar face throughout Planter’s Pointe, where neighbors often spotted her running through fields or visiting other families.
But on Dec. 31, 2024, a car struck Waffles. She had to be euthanized.
For Johnson and her sons, the loss was devastating. But the response from their neighbors showed just how many lives Waffles had touched.
One neighbor described Waffles as the neighborhood mascot, while another thanked Johnson for sharing her with the community.
“I just didn’t know how much she meant to everyone else, too,” Johnson said.
The overwhelming support gave Johnson comfort during a difficult time, but it also inspired her to find a way to give something back.
The bridge
While grieving for Waffles, Johnson learned about Rainbow Bridge memorials in other communities, including one on Folly Beach.
The idea comes from the legend of the Rainbow Bridge, which describes a peaceful place where pets go after death. According to the story, animals become healthy and young again, spending their days running and playing until they are reunited with their owners.
Johnson liked the idea of having a physical place where people could remember their animals, but she wanted something closer to home.
“Why don’t we have one here?” she recalled asking.
In February 2025, Johnson reached out to the town of Mount Pleasant to see what it would take to bring a bridge to the community. What she originally thought might be a simple project quickly turned into more than a year of town meetings, approvals and planning.
Johnson, who works in the construction industry, said she had little experience navigating the approval process for a public project. She was passed between town employees, attended numerous meetings and learned firsthand how much work goes into getting a project approved.
At one point, while being transferred between departments, a town employee asked whether the project was about Waffles. The employee had heard about the dog through a friend who lived in Johnson’s neighborhood.
Johnson, who was close to giving up, took it as a sign to keep going.
But the process continued to test her patience. Before one of the final meetings, Johnson was exhausted and didn’t want to attend another. That’s when her youngest son, Reeves, reminded her of something she had always taught him.
“You always tell me, we don’t give up.”
Johnson laughed while recalling the moment, realizing her own advice had come back to her.
A community effort
Once the project received approval, Johnson still needed the materials and labor to bring the bridge to life.
She reached out to Southern Lumber and Millwork, initially hoping the company might have some extra wood available.
Instead, one of the owners called her shortly after receiving her email and offered to donate the materials needed for the project.
“My family, we’re dog lovers. We’ll give you whatever you need,” Johnson recalled him saying.
Southern Lumber and Millwork created the computer-aided design drawings and donated all the building materials. Nautilus Home Management and General Contractor Phillip Smith handled construction, while Reflections of Charleston donated the paint and completed the painting.
Johnson said the businesses continued supporting the project throughout the lengthy approval process, even when she had little news to share.
Her sons also helped during construction, getting to see the results of the hard work and persistence that had gone into the project.
After more than a year of planning, the bridge was completed in March 2026. Friends, neighbors and supporters gathered for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate. What started as a way to remember Waffles had become a place for the entire community.
Johnson remembered it as one of the first beautiful spring days of the year.
Every collar has a story
Today, the bridge is decorated with collars, tags and other keepsakes left behind by families honoring their pets.
Some collars are colorful, while others are worn from years of use. Each one represents an animal that was once part of someone’s family.
Johnson said visitors often share stories about their pets, including a woman who stopped by during construction after recently losing her dog. The woman later returned for the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
For Johnson, those interactions have been some of the most meaningful parts of the project.
The bridge welcomes anyone who wants to remember a pet, whether they leave behind a collar or simply stop to visit.
Johnson also plans to provide blank collars for people who would rather keep their pet’s original collar at home. The memorial is intended for all animals, not just dogs.
“Your feelings are real, and it takes time,” Johnson said about grieving a pet.
The project has even inspired interest outside South Carolina. Johnson said someone in Florida reached out asking whether they could use the bridge’s construction drawings for a similar memorial.
Southern Lumber agreed to share the plans.
For Johnson, seeing the idea spread is another reminder of how much good can come from people working together.
“This is everyone’s bridge,” she said.
Johnson hopes the bridge will offer families a place to celebrate their pets’ lives, share memories and find comfort knowing they aren’t alone in their grief.
“Hopefully it will make people smile, even if you shed a tear here,” she said.
Waffles spent much of her life escaping fences and wandering through Planter’s Pointe, but Johnson said those adventures brought neighbors together in ways she never expected.
Now, through a bridge filled with collars and memories, Johnson hopes Waffles will continue bringing people together, just as she did during her life.
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