Hi Darling,
The Carr-Fassett family has a lot to be grateful about. If you’ve been following our adventures on Facebook and Instagram (where I post most of my personal pix and lots of animal adoption updates) you know that we found a big ole blessing in the woods (with the help of some awesome New Yorkers!): A sweet, emaciated (35 pounds underweight), sick and struggling-to-stay-alive, hound dog who we named…Buddy!
After weeks of searching for his owner, making countless trips to the vet, nursing him back to health around the clock (how do you moms out there do it?!), and showering him with love, respect and compassion, it’s official—he’s doing great and we’re keeping him! He’s our soon-to-be-healthy boy now and we couldn’t be happier. Welcome sweet Buddy!
Today Buddy is quite the celebrity. Thousands of people from around the world have been praying for him and cheering him on (#gobuddygo). Folks have been logging into their social media accounts just for Buddy, especially on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
If you’re one of those people, I just want to take a moment to thank you. I know your love matters. It’s been part of his medicine and ours.
What’s more, I’ve read at least a dozen comments from people who went out and adopted a first or second fur-child. And countless others who have said, “now you’ve really got me thinking, I really want to adopt.” Booyah! Nothing makes me happier. I swear I’ve cried hundreds of heart-opening tears as I read all the love and possibilities. You all are so wonderful, yet another reason I have to be grateful.
When I first saw this skinny guy, I knew the road would be long.
And I heard the voices in my head: “Um, you don’t have time for this. He’s too sick. You’re already spread too thin. Lola doesn’t like to share. You travel too much. He’s bigger than your house. He’s a hunting dog, you eat plants!” Sound familiar? I bet you have practical voices that tell you not to do stuff you really want to do too.
Soon I came to understand that Buddy was my spiritual lesson.
I constantly talk about the importance of loving kindness—extended to all beings. How could I pick and choose when it’s convenient? How could I not take this guy into my life and heart. Brian felt the same way (thank the Gods!).
That was our rubber meets the road moment.
Who better than us to care for this guy? We have 16 acres of woods to explore, 6 of which are fully fenced in—crucial for Buddy’s built-in wanderlust. We work from home. We love animals. We want more joy in our lives. It quickly became a no-brainer.
As for Lola, she’s dealing and healing too. I think Buddy is the only brother she’d ever tolerate. Because he was so malnourished and wounded, she gave him space and reverence. Though she really doesn’t appreciate when he takes over her bed (that’s way too small for him), I think she likes to have a pal to trot around and explore with (which he is slowly starting to do). We’re doing our best to make her feel super special during this time. Translation: She’s getting chubby. “Hello piglet, enjoy it now cause it ain’t gonna last!”
After only a few days, Buddy is putting on weight—close to a pound a day. His coat gets shinier, his eyes get brighter and his tail wags more and more. He’s even starting to look our way when we call his name!
I wanted to express how lucky we feel to have the chance to make a difference in Buddy’s life.
If you decide to bring an animal into your home this holiday season, please consider adoption. So many beings suffer senselessly in shelters. Sadly, many of them die there, never knowing any kindness or cuddles. If you’ve got a rescued fur-baby, you know what I mean. You also understand that they know you saved them—it’s a bond like no other. And boy do they appreciate it.
Unconditional love heals.
Thanks for listening! He continues to heal. As do we.
There’s nothing better than happy trails and waggy endings!
Public Service Announcement: For all the hound dog lovers out there—consider a GPS collar. Hunting dogs and hounds are lead by their nose. They get lost easily and really need our help. Tragically, many hunting dogs go missing during hunting season, and others get left behind if they aren’t top performers.
Your turn: Share your adoption story in the comments below (and congrats to Lisa Henbest, my Crazy Sexy Kitchen contest winner!)
Peace & wags,
In November I rescued or actually Dexter rescued me. He was taken from a hoarding situation where I think he was loved just not cared for. He is about 10 years old, he had 30 teeth removed and he was neutered. My kind of man! This bundle of love just wants to be with me 24/7. I take him to my flower shop where he greets every customer with a wagging tail. I too had no children and lost my first dog last Valentine’s Day. Mylo was the little love who entered my life while I was living alone in Florida fighting breast cancer and going through chemotherapy. I didn’t know how I was going to take care of myself never mind a puppy. But like you said this dog taught me more about love and living than I could even begin to explain. Until Dexter came along I didn’t realize how much I was missing loving and being loved unconditionally. I have been blessed with two amazing dogs and I thank God for them.
I think anyone looking for a chance to be loved unconditionally should RESCUE a dog. They know just how much you both need it.
Three years ago I rescued three pitbull/doberman puppies from a family who was starving them in a garage. I won’t go into the gory details of what I saw when I picked them up but I can say it completely changed my life! I still have two, and adopted one out to a wonderful family. It was a challenge to fit their nutritional needs and help them regain their health. I am now beginning to transition them onto a vegan diet. Kris, can you please post about vegan dogs, pros\cons, and how the vegan community can support animals rescue efforts while maintaining vegan values? Thanks!
What an amazingly beautiful story…I love foxhounds and coonhounds (I THINK Buddy is a Walker Hound but could just as easily be an American Foxhound…he’s so skinny right now its harder to get a true fix on how he’s supposed to look). It’s kind of spooky because I was re-reading Where The Red Fern Grows yesterday and the opening scene of the book is the narrator saving an old redbone coonhound from being mauled to death by a pack of vicious strays. The hound is severely malnourished and skeletal, the pads of his feet worn “slicker than the peel of an old apple”. The reason for this punishing journey becomes clear when the narrator examines the crude check-line-and-baling-wire collar fastened around his neck. Scratched into the leather in large, childish letters is the name “BUDDY”…..
We lost our 2 German Shepherd rescues in the last year to old age so I can’t wait to adopt a couple of new rescue dogs. I’ve never understood paying for a dog or cat when there are so many great ones in shelters. I also just brought in feral cat. Named him Ricky, had him neutered and he is turning out to be the best little love muffin ever. More people need to adopt…these animals give so much selfless love!
Hi Kris,
I love the story about your that you rescued!
I was wondering whether you feed your dogs vegan food?
Thank you for the favorable writeup. The idea in fact would be a activity consideration that. Start looking difficult to help much more sent acceptable by you! Even so, the best way may possibly most people speak?
I’ve been wanting a dog for the longest time now, but nothing ever seemed right – don’t want to make the time to care for another breathing thing, live in a cramped apartment, couldn’t commit to one cute face, and the list goes on. A few weeks ago, a stray wandered into a friend’s yard and I immediately fell in love. It was either my way or the pound. Coming from someone who can’t even keep a plant alive, the past few weeks have been trying to say the least. Turns out my big red stray is riddled with hookworms, heartworms, and malnutrition in addition to a crippling fear of loud noises, strangers (especially men), and cars. Trying to turn his life around for the better has managed to benefit mine in so many ways. It’s so rewarding to see him do the little things, like wagging his tail when I come home or hear him finally learn to play with his dog toys. It’s comforting to know that I’ve become his safety, the leg he clings to when a car passes by or thunder rolls. When I took him in, I thought of him as just a burden that, now that I see it, would have either been put down when taken to the pound or left with conditions untreated. Instead, he’s been a teacher, helping me learn patience, responsibility, and healing with a soft touch. These are all things that are a little foreign to me.
I feel that everyone comes into our lives for a reason, whether they have two legs or four. Your rescue, my stray, and I’m sure everyone who’s posted are no different. Congrats on your new furbaby, and hope he’s adjusted well to his new home!
Kris, since you love animals and rescued them, would you be willing to researching cancer in dogs. I think it would be a great idea to add to your book series about cancer in dogs. Let me know what you think.
Thanks for any other informative site. Where else may just I am getting that type of information written in such a perfect manner? I have a project that I am just now working on, and I’ve been on the look out for such information.
Volunteer for a rescue and have four rescue/shelter dogs and a cat whorock my world. One, Mikey, is 17 (he was 14 when he came into my life) is a beagle/whippet cross. He and Buddy look like they are related.
Last year my husband Simon was working Iraq. He started to feed a stray dog. They called her Lucy. She was starving and desperate for love. When they fed her she would stop eating because she wanted love more than she wanted food. The locals cut of her ears and threw her in an oil drum. Why? God only knows but when that happened Simon and his co-workers went to work to rescue Lucy. There was a lot of red tape in Iraq to bring her back to Canada. Problems that most people would just give up. Thankfully Simon stuck to it. I am so proud of him and what he did so Lucy could have a better life. Lucy is thriving in her new home in Burnaby. Here is a link to an interview that my husband did with CBC television. http://www.cbc.ca/player/Embedded-Only/News/BC/Animals/ID/2261726162/?page=3
My best friend Liz is trying so hard to adopt a dog right now. She found it, but doesn’t have enough money to pay for medicine to treat her skin infection, ear infection, and heart worm condition. Do you know any place she can contact to get help? The dog is staying at my house right now but can only do so for a few more days. Liz just lost a cat she had owned for her whole life and is really attached to this poor dog already. It’s part pit bull, so none of the shelters around here will take her 🙁
Thank You!
congratulations! we have adopted and nursed back to health so many dogs and kitties and horses I’ve lost count. At one point we were up to 10 dogs (and not small ones), but the love they gave us and the joy (and occasional heart ache) made it all worthwhile. We are now “down” to 7 dogs and 5 cats (indoor, that’s not counting the 3 barncats who have adopted us) and our house and hearts are full. Beware the hound though, our beagle to this day likes to go “explore”>>>he’s at least partially responsible for some of the gray hair I have…
enjoy your boy!
We have rescued 2 beagles…one is named Zoey, we nicknamed her monkey… Cause she can climb on the counters. The other one is River, due to the white line on her back reminds me of a river…she sleeps with me and is the best dog I have ever had..Zoey loves my partner and she is so smart that it is scary to think what would happen if she had appossing thumbs..
Richard and Bryan
We have a similar story, Kris! Several years ago an uncle called my mother, knowing that I was involved in pet rescue here in Ottawa, to say that there was an abandoned doberman way back in the country on the Quebec side, near his in-laws. The in-laws were afraid of it & were going to shoot it. I went up with some leftover dinner meat in hand, my uncle showed me where he was, he trotted up to the car, gobbled the meat & jumped right in to the back seat! He was a big boy, but very thin. My dog (also a dobie) was suffering from heart disease & needed to be kept calm. So my parents agreed to keep him til I found an adoptive family. Well, I did, but by then they had fallen in love with him & wouldn’t let go. They kept him, took him for St. John’s Ambulance therapy dog training, & he became a hit at the local nursing home. Sadly he died a few years later of what is known as the Wobbles – a large breed disease. While he was with us, Jake gave much joy & had a wonderful life!
Reading this has brought me so much joy! I’m so happy Buddy has found your family =) xx