I have been blessed with great friends on both side of the River of Life but one of my favorite friends is Wishbone.
It
seems like I have known him my entire life and afterlife. I first met
him when he was saved by superstar dog rescuer Paula Malatesta.
Wishbone was a southern coonhound who would not hunt and was marked for
death. Paula saved him and gave him a wonderful home.
But
Wishbone was still a very scared dog and he escaped from Paula’s
backyard. He was gone for several days. One Sunday morning as Paula
was leaving church she saw Wishbone and ran after him. She tumbled down
a hill while in pursuit but she managed to get Wishbone back and
returned him to his home.
Wishbone
lived with the Malatesta pack until his Mom took ill and her family
thought the large amount of dogs she was taking care of were the cause
of her health issues. They removed the dogs from the pack. Wishbone,
having already honed his instinct for danger, fled before he could be
collected. When Paula came home Wishbone returned. She had no choice
but to try and find another home for the yellow coonhound who had
escaped certain extinction twice. Tiffany Provost, a young lady who had
proved herself to be a great dog Mom, offered to take Wishbone in, and
very good people worked together to get Wishbone north to New Hampshire,
where he was finally in his forever home.
He
fit into his news family perfectly. He loved his new Mom, his Dad and
their wonderful children. I was so jealous when Pocket and River got to
meet Wishbone at Pokey Lunn’s house. River was not aware of the
details of Wishy’s life but Pocket made sure she knew that they were in
the presence of legend.
Since
then we haven’t heard much from Wishbone. He has settled down to be
just a beloved family dog. But he, like all quiet, beloved dogs, has
not been able to fight off the advances of time Wishy is starting to
slow down. His Mom took him for an MRI and it showed that he had four
compressive discs in his back which caused chronic intervertebral disc
disease. He can walk but he needs help standing. If he gets to the
point he can’t walk he will need surgery. Since Wishbone doesn’t want
to do much more than sit with his family this is not a big lifestyle
change for him.
After
all the close calls Wishy has had in his life he has the perfect Mom.
She waited at the doctor’s office all day and sat with him in between
procedures so he wouldn’t think he had been abandoned. When you are a
rescue you are completely convinced they are coming back.
And
his Mom will begin helping him with his physical therapy which is fine
with Wishbone. The more Mom and Dad time he has the better. And I
think he has years of more Mom and Dad time coming.
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ReplyDelete<3
ReplyDeleteWe wish Wishbone well, he has had quite the life and so deserves to have the rest of his life be a comfortable one. Thanks for telling us about him.
ReplyDeleteWoos - Ciara and Lightning
WE are sorry that Wishbone is dealing with the issues of getting old. But we are so happy that he has such a loving mom now that cares for him like he so deserves
ReplyDeletehugs
Mr Bailey, Hazel & Mabel
He deserves all the love he is getting. stella rose
ReplyDelete