Our Journey With Buster G
I joined the Floof page as we had a french bulldog and wanted to see everyone else’s frenchies and get advice if required.
We saw a dog up for adoption and applied but unfortunately although we had a trial with him he didn’t get on with our frenchie and so we had to hand him back. We were absolutely gutted, cried more tears than a river and really felt that we had failed the poor fella (so pleased to say he has a lovely home now)
This left us feeling pretty down when out of the blue we got a call about collecting a poor little boy who was being advertised on scumtree. We were away on holiday at the time.
Honestly, we had mixed emotions, we so wanted another frenchie in our lives but after the last experience were terrified of upsetting the dynamic in our home again.
This is when you see what goes on behind the scenes by the management and members of FLOOF to get a dog in need safe.
We agreed to go and get him and temporary foster him for 48 hours.
My husband said what have we let ourselves in for? I just knew that this little boy needed us and that was the first priority, we would deal with it one step at a time but we needed to rescue him.
So the day came, the man was running late, we were parked outside a house as nervous as hell with our first experience of a collection of a pup, let alone one in need.
We were surprised when he arrived, seemed a pleasant enough guy but to see this poor little soul in this huge ugly harness just skin and bones with the saddest expression you will ever see still stays with us to this day, yet he was still devoted to this owner who was clearly not looking after him properly.
We were told that he was a very unhappy dog and that his partners shifts had changed and he was being left alone a lot and this had made him lose the weight.
Some if not all of this is true, he suffers terribly with separation anxiety even when we are home with him. However after parting with the cash we had to ask if he wanted to say goodbye to him
We were pretty sure once he was home with us that he had found his forever home we just needed to make sure our other fur babies accepted him and vice versa.
We got him home, with the stuff we were given with him, a flea ridden bed and Tesco’s own brand dog food and bowls, all of which quickly found themselves in our bin.
We took him to the vets that day, he was full of fleas, weighed just 9.3kgs, had some blood tests and we left with a feeding plan and we knew we had one hell of a journey ahead of us.
After 48 hours we said we would have him for another 48 hours and another and another. It became a bit of an ongoing joke in our FLOOF messenger group.
After a day or so we noticed he had a lump on his back leg, a tumour of some description and straight back to the vets we went. They examined it and first impressions were that it looked like fatty tissue but it was always better to get these things checked out, of course we agreed.
Next was more bad news, his blood test results came back and his bile acid count was really high, not what we had hoped for. We now didn’t know whether his weight loss was relevant to the tumour and the emotions were running high.
We put him on a raw diet and took him to the vets each week just to weigh him, and the weight was creeping up, we were like excited children because in our minds if he is gaining weight this is a good thing all round.
Next we got the tumour results, it was a mast cell tumour not a fatty lump and needed to be removed! Once this was done and sent off for testing, the emotional rollercoaster was being ridden again! But what we did know was that this 6 year old dog needed us and we were going to be his forever home whatever the outcome was, this boy needed a home and a family and we were there for him.
The time waiting for the results seemed like a lifetime and when the phone rang that day and “vet” appeared on the phone screen although we knew we had to answer it, part of us didn’t want to either! When the grading of tumours was explained and we were told that his was a grade zero (nothing to worry about) I think the whole world heard us cry happy tears.
We formally adopted Buster G (Ralph) and are pleased to say he is a proper chunk now at 14kg and living life to the full as part of our family.
Sharing every step along the way with the floof management team was emotional for us all and I’m pretty sure they felt the same ups and downs that we did along our journey.
Writing this has been very emotional for me, the rollercoaster that we have ridden throughout our year with FLOOF although I wouldn’t change for the world, it has been so tough yet so rewarding. The management team were there every step of the way to support and help and even after adoption they will always be there for The FLOOF babies.
Buster G is the loveliest little man that we ever could have hoped or dreamed of having. Unfortunately since joining our family we have continued to ride the rollercoaster losing our other frenchie and our boxer within 18 days of each other at the tail end of last year which broke us all including Buster G.
We were then lucky enough to adopt Noelle in January this year, she again isn’t perfect, all her teeth are broken she had to have 4 teeth out and BOAS as she regurgitated after every meal and is still to this day fed on a step. Toilet training is random if she can be bothered she will go outside but it depends how she is feeling but again the love that this little girl has for us and us for her, words can not express. She is coming out of her shell so much jumping around and thoroughly enjoying life, she also has gained the weight that she needed too after spending her precious life as a breeder She also made Buster G happy again as he had been so sad and it pulled at our hearts to see the change in him
Please remember Rescue dogs are not easy, they come with baggage, you will never know what they have experienced in their lives but what I do know, from our experience is that with time, patience, love and understanding, these babies learn to trust again and give you their all. They still have demons and this you can’t change but you have to be that person and parent that they need you to be and that’s something that we always will be and will give them the life that they truly deserve.
SH 08/04/2019
