Bucky – A fostering love story from Cindy of Jethro, Rugs, Ozzie and Harriet!
Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and fostering homeless basset hounds in need lovers…..Oh, I can not say enough about the foster homes that take in these poor lost souls that are mostly pulled from the pounds. Cindy was telling me the story of Bucky and I asked her to be a guest blogger for this one. I wanted to share Bucky’s story with the darling readers of bassethoundtown.
So here goes Cindy’s story. It is rather long, but well worth the read! Bucky sure is grateful for the Doyles!
GUEST BLOG…..BY CINDY DOYLE, CBFF (Cyber best friend forever)
I found Basset Buddies online and decided to go to a meet up to meet some basset hounds and their people. Ronald and I and the hounds had a really good time. So, I continued to follow BBRTX online and when they came across a situation where they couldn’t find transport for a dog in Lufkin Texas, we decided to step up and go get him. His story was a sad one and we wanted to point this sweet hound in the right direction. He had been dumped on a country road along with 2 other female hounds. The females were adopted by a family on the street but Bucky would never stay at the families home and kept running off. One day Bucky was sleeping in front of a man’s home when the man came out and tripped over Bucky. The man went back inside, got his gun, and shot Bucky in the head. Bucky ran off and the man assumed he’d go die somewhere. Bucky ended up finding a barn near by and took cover there. A woman that lived there saw him and saw all the blood and assumed that he would die. Her husband didn’t like dogs and said that there was no hope for him and they left him in the barn to die. The next day the lady went back out to the barn, expecting to find Bucky dead, but saw that he was still alive. So, she got some water and food and set it by him. Bucky slowly got up and drank some water and eventually started eating the food. He was so weak that he couldn’t even bark. After a few days she realized that Bucky was going to make it. She named him Buddy and took him to the vet where they gave him his shots and she got something to try and control the fleas. After a few weeks Bucky was gaining some much needed weight and looking much better. Unfortunately, the husband said the dog had to go. That’s when the woman found BBRTX online and called and left a message asking us if we could rescue him. BBRTX cried out for transport help but nobody stepped up. BBRTX was only 6 months old at the time and facebook wasn’t invented so they couldn’t find anyone to transport. So, I couldn’t bear to see this poor dog tortured anymore and decided to go pick him up and make him my very first foster. BBRTX already had a Buddy in the rescue so in order to make things less confusing, we changed his name. We needed a name that sounded like Buddy since he knew his name, and due to the gunshot wound, Bucky seemed to fit.
The trip up there was several hours and we decided to take Jethro and Rugby with us so that they could meet. I was hoping that would make the transition easier. Bucky was kept outside in the hot weather in a dirty barn and was not allowed inside at all. He was full of dirt and, little did we know, trillions of fleas. I had the cab of the truck all fixed up with plenty of room for the 3 bassets so we put him in the back seat with Jethro and Rugby and headed home. About 30 mins down the road I noticed that Bucky had sores on his head and belly. That’s when I realized he was covered in fleas. It was too late. Now, Jethro and Rugs had fleas, the truck had fleas and Ronald and I had fleas. When we got home the first thing I did was took Bucky out back and gave him a really good bath. But, we still ended up fighting fleas in the house and on Jethro, Rugby and Bucky for the next few weeks. I put so much stuff on them to try and rid them of fleas that Rugby broke out with a rash. I ended up taking him to the vet for a shot and medications for his rash. I felt so bad. Eventually, we got rid of the fleas.
So, we took Bucky to the vet for his check up and he was found to have heartworms. But, he couldn’t get treated until he gained at least 10 pounds. He also needed to be neutered but they wouldn’t do that until he gained weight also. In the meantime, while petting and grooming him, I found the bullet that had moved to his neck area. When he gained enough weight for the neutering I marked where the bullet was and the doctor removed it during surgery. The bullet had flattened on one side and had sharp edges so I know it was painful. The vet said it was a 22 so it wasn’t that big. But I can’t imagine something hitting a bone so hard that it smashed in one side of a bullet. The doc said there was one spot on his head that it could have hit that would have done that and not killed him. I can’t remember the spot he said but Bucky was a very lucky hound for sure.
Then, I helped to man a booth at an event and took Bucky with me. A nice couple, Sandra and Ronald Herrick, came to our booth and saw Bucky. They had lost a basset months before and were thinking of rescuing. They went home to think about it then there was another event that we went to and Ronald and Sandra were there also. After that event Sandra said she decided that Bucky was the hound for them and she decided to adopt him. Bucky still needed to go through his heartworm treatments so Sandra and Ronald agreed to help him through.
Now Bucky is heartworm free, healthy and happy. He has a pug/shitzhu mix brother named Spencer and they are very bonded. Ronald passed away a few months ago and Sandra says that Bucky and Spencer are her saviours. Bucky is a certified service dog and visits two alzheimers facilities in the area on a regular basis. Everyone at the facilities look forward to Bucky’s visits and they all love him.
And the best thing about Bucky’s adoptive situation is; he lives a short 10 minute drive from us and Sandra lets us come visit him whenever we want. I make several trips a year to go see this sweet boy. And now he lives happily ever after! On his chair!
End of foster story, but the start of a new life. I cannot thank Foster Families enough. I will be the first to admit we, in BHT, cannot foster but we do what we can in other areas.
END OF GUEST BLOG BY CINDY DOYLE…RESCUE WOMAN, Extraordinaire!
More loving Foster Families and those who Adopt later…Cat, Chaps and Emma
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