The Dog Liberator™

The Dog Liberator rescues abandoned dogs throughout the Southeast. Based in Central Florida, this non-profit organization fosters all of their dogs in a home environment. Founded in 2009, all dogs are fully vetted, spayed or neutered prior to adoption. The Dog Liberator focuses in rescuing the herding breed, which consists of Border Collies, Shepherds, Sheepdogs, Aussies, Collies, and Deaf/Blind Dogs.

Rosebud the Basset

I have a soft spot for Basset hounds. My personal dogs, Ralph and Gus, are Basset mixes. When people call me about adopting a Border Collie, I always say to them, “Why do you want a smart dog? They get bored and get into trouble. Get a Basset hound. Even when they come up with a devious plot, they forget what they’re doing half way through!”

So is it any surprise that our wonderful Amy felt safe sending me this e-mail?

 

Tuesday, January 25, 2011: Today one of my students came to me in tears. Initially I assumed she was upset about the grades on her upcoming report card, but I was wrong. She was upset about a dog. Some of my students know I volunteer for The Dog Liberator and come to me about stray neighborhood dogs destined for the county pound. Usually these dogs are pit bulls and pit bull mixes, so I pass, knowing just how difficult it would be – even for TDL – to rehome these poor souls. Instead, I give students the address and phone number of the area’s humane society, a no-kill shelter.

But today was different. This student was crying over a neighbor’s dog that had taken to chasing her (the neighbor’s) horses and was therefore headed for points unknown if she wasn’t gone by the end of the day. Much as they’d like to, the student’s family couldn’t take the dog. I was ready to say “no” and write down the humane society’s information once again when the student showed me a cell phone photo of “Missy.” How could I say no? Staring back at me from beneath several folds of skin and a pair of ridiculously long ears were the saddest basset hound eyes I’ve ever seen … This was the dog guilty of chasing horses?


Fast forward to the end of the school day, and I’m following handwritten directions to a neighborhood several miles from the school. I just couldn’t see allowing that sweet-looking dog to be taken to the county shelter … or worse. My destination was an older singlewide with a dirt yard surrounded by barbed wire fencing. I counted four horses and numerous cats milling around the trailer as I parked and made my way to the front door.

Once I explained who I was and why I was standing on her doorstep, it didn’t take long to convince the dog’s owner to let me take her. Missy, according to her owner, was four-years-old, hadn’t been on flea or heartworm preventative, had an expired rabies tag, and might/might not be spayed (eeek!). The woman said she’d had Missy for a year; the dog had been a gift from a friend. I could see for myself that Missy was overweight (truth is, she was the biggest basset hound I’d ever seen!). I still couldn’t see the dog chasing horses, but her owner insisted that she did. Okay, sure. After a few more minutes of conversation where I gathered as much information as possible about Missy, she and I were off to the vet’s office. I prayed she would be heartworm-free – and that Gisele and Holly had room in the rescue for one more.

At the vet’s office, Missy (now Rosebud) greeted both dogs and people with a friendly wag of her tail and waited calmly until they called us back. I explained Rosebud’s medical history as best I could, and prayed like crazy while Dr. Hendrix completed his examination and we waited for the results of the heartworm test. He verified that she is approximately 4-years-old, has been spayed (yes!), and – miraculously – is heartworm-free! Dr. Hendrix also said that Rosebud, who tips the scales at a hefty 69 pounds – needs to lighten her load by about 15-20 pounds. Who doesn’t, I ask? She has several long scars on her left shoulder that indicate she may have been hit by a car at some point and is missing hair in several tiny spots on her head from ticks being removed. Otherwise, Rosebud appears to be in excellent health and is now current on everything … vaccinations, Heartgard, Comfortis … everything. Huge sigh of relief from me.

So now we’re at home and I’ve just given her a flea bath. Thank God for Comfortis and Adams Flea & Tick Shampoo because poor Rosebud was infested. Her previous owner told me her children slept with the dog. I certainly hope not because I haven’t seen a flea infestation this bad since I rescued Chloe (now Bacardi) from another neighborhood close to my school. It was so bad the bath water turned reddish-brown from the dried blood. Not to worry, though, because Rosebud is resting (read: sleeping) comfortably on the dog bed next to my Jack Russell/whippet mix, no doubt dreaming of her next meal.

Before I forget, here are the basics: Rosebud is both people- and dog-friendly, loves car rides, walks well on a leash, appears to be house trained, is super at the vet’s office, and enjoys simple pleasures like belly rubs and warm baths.

 

 

Yeah, you gotta love a Basset hound! Rosebud is divine! I can’t wait until she finds her forever family!!!

Make sure you check out Rosebud’s extensive photo album. If you are interested in adopting Rosebud, please review our adoption process and then e-mail Amy at amyb.thedogliberator@gmail.com.


Monday, January 31, 2011:

Just a quick entry to say that Rosebud has settled in so well it’s like she’s always been a part of the pack. She’s such an easygoing girl! Nothing really bothers her. Her favorite activities are eating and sleeping (big surprise, she’s a Basset Hound!).

It’s funny, Holly and I were talking one time and I was telling her what comical, stubborn dogs corgis are. Her response was that Bassets are very similar. After living with one, I can honestly say that they are stubborn, but in a totally different way. Corgis are stubborn about what they DO want to do; Bassets, on the other hand, are stubborn about what they DON’T want to do! You know, such little things as getting up in the morning to go outside. Rousing Rosebud is like waking up a surly teenager: She doesn’t wanna, mom! But you just have to laugh because while all the other dogs are dancing around excited as can be over the prospect of heading outside to go “potty,” Rosebud just looks at them through half-closed eyelids as if to say, “What’s wrong with you people? It’s 5 o’clock in the morning!”

Rosebud’s fitness regimen is progressing pretty well. We walk two miles just about every evening. I usually take one of my dogs along for the walk as well. Tonight I took Shelby, the corgi, and snapped a few photos of us along the way. If my neighborhood had any tough guys, don’t you know they’d be scared to see us coming?!?!? Rosebud’s diet is coming along nicely too. She’s getting a reduced portion of regular food, plus a can of no-salt green beans every day. She still wolfs it down and looks for more, but I know in the long run it’s the best thing for her. I’m going to take her to my vet’s office later this week for a weigh-in on their big digital scale. Here’s hoping she’s a wee bit lighter than she was a week ago!

February 20, 2011 Update:
 

 

2 thoughts on “Rosebud the Basset

  1. We are absolutely in love with basset hounds at our house here in Oklahoma. We have four rescue dogs (three are baasset hounds Barney, Barkley, and Dixie). We also adopted a cocker spaniel by the the name of Bob. Barney was our first basset and within two years we adopted two more bassets as well as the cocker spaniel. God Bless all of you that foster and help adopt out the throw away animals.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Follow

Get every new post on this blog delivered to your Inbox.

Join other followers:

%d bloggers like this: