Buddy (Bo 06-259)

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6/18/06: Bo has arrived! He is a big, fluffy bundle of love. We are guessing that Bo is around 5 years of age, but we will see what the vet thinks tomorrow. We were originally told that he was overweight, but he is mostly just a stocky boy with a lot of hair. He was found as a stray, but he appears to have lived inside at some point as he definitely has house manners. He is friendly with the resident dogs...they might say he is, ahem, a little too friendly. I'm sure that things will be great once he is neutered on Tuesday. He doesn't appear at all phased by the cats.

He got a bath and a lot of brushing this evening. He loves to be brushed - which is a good thing, because he needs a lot of it! He is already very handsome, but he will be a show-stopper once we get him spruced up.

We'll send more information and better photos after another bath, MORE brushing and a trip to the vet tomorrow...

BoBoBo

At a Glance #06-259

Breed not specified Born: September 2002
Male Weight not specified

Status: Deceased

Profile

6/18/06: Bo has arrived! He is a big, fluffy bundle of love. We are guessing that Bo is around 5 years of age, but we will see what the vet thinks tomorrow. We were originally told that he was overweight, but he is mostly just a stocky boy with a lot of hair. He was found as a stray, but he appears to have lived inside at some point as he definitely has house manners. He is friendly with the resident dogs...they might say he is, ahem, a little too friendly. I'm sure that things will be great once he is neutered on Tuesday. He doesn't appear at all phased by the cats.

He got a bath and a lot of brushing this evening. He loves to be brushed - which is a good thing, because he needs a lot of it! He is already very handsome, but he will be a show-stopper once we get him spruced up.

We'll send more information and better photos after another bath, MORE brushing and a trip to the vet tomorrow...

BoBoBo

Updates

Thursday, March 10, 2011

 

Dear RAGOM,

It was with many tears that our Buddy (Bo 06-259) crossed over to the rainbow bridge yesterday. Kelly, Buddy's foster mother thought that Buddy would be perfect for us as we had asked for a mellow dog. She was so right! When she took him in to be neutered, a mast cell tumor was discovered on his neck. Because of that I think many people were hesitant to take him on, but we thought we would love him for whatever time he had left. Not long after we got him, we discovered that he was in need of daily thyroid tablets but we knew that was common in Goldens and it wasn't a big deal. But in the fall of 2008 he was diagnosed with chronic leukemia. Despite his illness, he carried on and enjoyed the good life, surveying the yard as I gardened, meeting the mailman at the mailbox to get treats, taking long walks every day, and being the most mellow dog in the world (we even had someone break into our house one night while we were asleep and Buddy never barked…) He was never far from our sides, and the neighbors and all who met him, loved him despite some of the worst breath in the world.

Two months ago he took a turn for the worse. We started prednizone as a means to stimulate his appetite. It helped, but in the end his system was not absorping nutrients and he was not getting the oxygen he needed. As much as he wanted to be with us and as much as we wanted him with us, he was tired and ready to go.

I know everyone thinks that their dog is special but Buddy really was. As I have told neighbors about his passing they have all commented on what a wonderful dog he was. When I called the kennel where he tended to stay when we were gone, the care-givers cried on the phone and told me that he was one of their favorites. He was the calmest dog that ever lived…we only heard him bark 12 times in the almost five years that we had him. People tell me that Buddy was lucky because he came to live with us. My son says that he won the dog-lottery when we picked him up in Minnesota. But the truth is that we got so much more from Buddy than we ever gave him.

We know he is in a better place now. A place where he has the energy to run and play, an appetite, and no pain. But I listen for his sigh as he would settle down and for the sound of his snoring as he would go to sleep; I look around for his body sprawled on the floor and for his tail wagging in the wind, and I long for his silky fur and stinky breath. Yes, he's in a better place but oh, how we miss him so!

Julie and Allen B.

 

 

Monday, June 26, 2006

We got Bo's pathology report back today. His tumor is a Grade II and the edges were clean, which means they successfully removed the whole tumor and there was no lymph node involvement, which is VERY good news! Bo requires no further treatment at this time. Bo will be at increased risk for another mast cell tumor (as compared to an "average" dog), so his family will need to watch him and have any new growths examined in a timely manner.

Surgical details alert: The size of the incision on his neck is quite shocking, but that is only because they removed several centimeters of healthy skin in all directions to make sure that they had removed all of the tumor and would not have to do a second surgery. They then had to cut even further in two directions in order to be able to close up the incision well (to make the incision an elongated oval instead of a circle). So Bo's tumor was less than an inch in size and he now has a 6" incision on his neck. Poor Bo!

Because of the location of the tumor on his neck, he cannot wear a normal collar right now, so he is wearing a Gentle Leader harness in place of a collar. Quite ironic since of all our fosters, Bo is one of the easiest to walk on just a flat leash!

We have discovered a small quirk for Bo -- he does not like peanut butter. I didn't realize that they made dogs who don't like that stuff?! So Bo gets his antibiotics in cream cheese and he is happy as a clam.

I have talked to some families who have been scared off by Bo's tumor. While I understand their concern, there are no guarantees in life with ANY dog and Bo's prognosis is very good. I know there is a family out there who will be willing to take the good with the (chance of some) bad and Bo has SO MUCH "good" to give!

Please contact placement if you are interested in meeting this Golden boy.

 

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Bo was supposed to be neutered yesterday, but the vet got a little backed up with new RAGOM dogs, so we postponed it until tomorrow. This gave us a little more time to clean him up as he cannot bathe for two weeks post-surgery, so...today was an at-home spa day for Bo! He tried repeatedly to tell me that boys don't do spas, but I insisted and in the end (like many males) he ended up secretly enjoying his pampering. Bo got another intensive bath, about three hours of brushing (which he LOVES), his nails were trimmed and the fur on his paws was trimmed up. He is one handsome boy!

We knew that Bo liked cats, but we didn't know that Bo LOVES cats. He likes to give them big sloppy wet Bo kisses. The cats are not amused - but we are! He even does a little happy dance when he sees a cat. He must have had a feline buddy in his past life.

Last night Bo was feeling at home, so he decided to mark some things as his own. We quickly nipped that exercise in the bud and now Bo is complaining that he feels he is always being followed everywhere inside -- but we haven't had any more incidents today and we are hoping that we have seen the end of it.

Bo is such a happy boy that you can't help but come up with goofy nicknames for him. His full name in our household is Beauregard. We also like to play off the old "Bo knows..." Nike commercials from several years back -- Bo knows sit. Bo knows treats. Bo knows toys. Bo knows cats... Bo knows he wants a family to call his own, so email placement if you want to know Bo!


Pretty boy
Bo's happy mug

Bo's bloomers