I've fallen in love.....
...with a beautiful red-coated dude named Bud. He is probably a Golden mix of some sort, Doc thinks 3-4 yrs old, weighs about 46 lbs, and is MALE!I had sworn after Redd there would be no more males in my house but being the sucker that I am.....well, you know.
Bud was found out in the little community where my brother and his family live, including his youngest daughter and her new hubby. Our best guess is that Bud, like countless other dogs out there, was dumped. A friend of my niece's found him in the road by a little store but couldn't keep him so she took him to my niece, Britten. Brit and her hubby, Cody, kept Bud for several weeks, posting pics of him around the area sure someone would step up and want him back home. He is a very, very sweet dog and someone has worked with him because he knows sit, stay, and no. But Brit and Cody live in a rental home and were not allowed to have inside dogs...and Bud wants, needs, to be inside with his people. So Bud would get out of her fence while they were at school/work and hang around the front yard where he could visit with any and everyone who came by. Unfortunately, one of Brit's neighbors is a bit unbalanced (alcohol might have something to do with that
) and when she would see Bud out front the neighbor would go ballistic on Brit, threatening her and Bud. The neighbor was careful to stay inside when Cody was home tho for some strange reason.
On Labor Day weekend Brit and Cody went to the lake with her mom and dad and asked me to watch Bud while they were gone. Since he had been outside for some time, he had fleas and ticks...and we do not do fleas. The heart worm treatment I use takes care of fleas.
This boy is extremely loving; when you touch him he first leans on your leg then slowly slides to the floor to roll over on his back so you can get to his belly easier - he's very accommodating.He is very smart and caught on to our routines extremely quickly. By the time Brit came to pick him up I had already decided he was staying here until I could find him a home where he could be an inside baby. So Bud stayed with me. Britten was torn between relief and tears - she, who doesn't really like animals, had also fallen in love with Bud, but relief won out; she knew he would be safe here, no whacky neighbor who might throw poisoned meat over the fence as threatened.
We listed Bud on Arkansas Lost and Found with no response. When I had him vetted, Doc scanned him for a microchip - nada - but he does have a tattoo from the Humane Society the next county over so I contacted a friend who used to work there to see if she could help find his family. This was also to no avail. The HS puts that tattoo on dogs who are sterilized in their shelter so there is no method to track based on the tattoo. I have been posting him and asking that his pics be shared on FB, and they have, but no one has stepped up. So I feel we have done all we can to find his family. Either they are long gone from the area or simply do not want him - tho I cannot fathom why. So my next step was to try to get him up north where it is pretty easy to find good homes that keep dogs inside. I started talking with one of our old forum members from NY whose cush pup passed several years ago and she has been sharing my pics of Bud among her rescue friends - last count I knew of, there are four families very interested in Bud. And they each have something wonderful to offer him so I am sure he will find the perfect family. She has secured a foster until the families can meet Bud and a decision made, and she is working on finalizing transport to get him from ARK to NY. Altho Bud has been vetted and was all clear on heart worms, other parasites, received his vaccines (as much as I HATED to do so), and got a clean bill of health these type transports across state lines require a health certificate - so once we know the date he will start the transport I will take him back to Doc for that documentation so he will be legal. So this precious, adorable, sweet, loving boy will soon be leaving me. I have told Lori that if it should happen that he doesn't fit with anyone up there, she is to send him back to me. I don't want him shuffled from place to place, never belonging anywhere so I will take him back should that happen - I do NOT anticipate that at all.
People on FB keep telling me I should just keep him, he loves me and it's obvious I love him, he would be a good protector, a woman alone needs a big dog in the house, he has come to help heal me and give me courage for what may come, he needs me and I need him....and on and on and on. While what they say may be true, or most of it anyway, Bud needs someone younger and healthier than me so the best thing, the most loving thing, I can do for him is to give him every opportunity to find someone who can run and romp and play with him as he needs. So in a week or two, I will be standing in line with this handsome fellow waiting our turn to board the bus going north, my hands shaking, my heart breaking, my body racking with sobs. Today I know Bud has blessed my life and in time I will remember that again once he is in NY but letting him go is going to be a very difficult thing to do. But as a Jack Russel rescue is credited with saying - fostering is a bridge from where Bud was to all the possibilities he can be. I am humbled to be that bridge for for this amazing boy.
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Not too long ago I was thinking about all the people who have played a role in Quincy finally getting here, with me 
Originally Posted by mcdavis
