BO
Hi everyone! I'm Bo and this is our family's Happy Ending story by my mom, Marti!
My husband Rudy and I are ESRA volunteers, Great Lakes. Last March we had to make the heart-wrenching decision to part with our long-time friend and companion of the heart, Freddie, a 13 y.o. ESS. Although we have fostered several ESS's and transported more, there were probably none we viewed as "our dog". Along with Freddie, we also have his 9 y.o. niece, Tina Marie. We had made the decision to have just one dog for awhile while we addressed some necessary landscaping issues. It did not seem reasonable to add a new dog with the yard and walks all torn up!
Little did we know that Tina would not do well on her own. She developed separation anxiety and it became more and more difficult to leave her alone. It became more and more apparent as the weeks wore on that Tina would not be happy being a "single" dog in our household.
We
had noticed a nice male in Florida several months back in the "foster" listings
while looking for interested adoptors who were referred to us. We took a look
again and found "Bo" still there. (We think he was waiting, knowing that the
day would come when we would need him.)
I e-mailed his foster Mom Laura and she sent back really nice information about Bo and further pictures. We were hooked! We talked again and decided that perhaps if we could arrange transportation from Florida to Wisconsin, we would adopt Bo.
June Davis jumped into action. (Now there is a woman who can arrange transportation!) We completed paperwork and began to work on the weekend to bring Bo "North". My long-time friend Mary agreed to come with me on the long trip to Kentucky where I had arranged to meet with volunteer Teresa Cash on the weekend of May 19th. It was great to have a helping hand and company on the 550 mile trip.
Bo left Florida early Saturday A.M. and thanks to the help of great and dedicated volunteers, Laura Anderson (foster Mom), Laura Renfroe, Janis Jackson, Dottie Lance, Wendy Anstaet, Jennifer Pinto, Emiko Miyagi and Teresa Cash, not mention the coordination efforts of June Davis and Barb Roller, Bo made it to Bowling Green and our hotel at 9:00 pm on Saturday night. After Teresa headed for home to take care of her "crew", I walked Bo for quite awhile, then off to the room for a good night's sleep. Oops, I guess Bo sleeps on the bed with me too. We left for Wisconsin on Sunday a.m and arrived about 8:30 in the evening. My husband was waiting with Tina when we arrived.
Tina
welcomed Bo to her home with territorial snarls and grudging acceptance. Bo
settled in with our family, insisted that Tina become his friend and took
over the bedroom. It took a couple of days of convincing to get him to sleep
in his own fleece bed instead of our bed. Lots of firsts for Bo, since being
here. First time down to a basement, (what is this place?) First time to see
the Mallard Ducks that come to feed in our yard daily from the creek behind
our house. (Bark, bark, bark!) First time at the groomers. (Groomer Laura
said he did just fine, but did not like his face trimmed!) Memorial Day was
the first time on the river in the boat, swimming, running up and down the
sand bank and just sitting in the boat with Tina, (and grand-dog, ESS,) gliding
down the river and begging snacks from the cooler. He seems especially fond
of soggy Doritos accidentally dropped in the river. There is just no accounting
for taste.
Bo has become a part of our family. When I am at the computer, he lays and sleeps behind me. When I clean, he follows me from room to room. When I vacuum, he follows the vacuum and barks at it. He loves to walk around town on his leash and actually does very well after the first couple of excited minutes.
Marti Schiller