Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and Rottie Lovers:

Welcome to our own Lois Lema, resident of basset hound town. Lois was recounting this story to me and I asked her to please be a guest blogger and tell us all this amazing story. I know you will enjoy it as much as I do.

Now, resident, Lois Lema……

this story has a few sections….bear with me.

10 years ago a college student named jack was dating a lovely girl…whose name is long forgotten. together they bought a big, beautiful rottie puppy named brad. the puppy ate the walls of their apartment . they got “asked” to leave. jack moved home with bradley. eventually jack moved out. bradley did not..ruthann, 60 yr old single mom never a dog owner now had a rottie.

brad grew. and then grew some more…now about 140 pounds of the biggest most gentle rottie you ever met…he smiled, and his “nubbin” of a tail wagged his whole body. he never hurt anyone or anything…his only fault was an “attraction” for young yellow labs and golden retriever males. kids climbed all over him. puppies too. if you sat on the ground, he sat on you….he was brad…kind of like “norm” from cheers.

buster and brad were the bestest of friends…kind of like the odd couple. this huge rottie and the 43 lb basset. they sat next to each other at the park and followed each other around and greeted each other like they had been apart for decades. it was a strong bond…buster actually met brad before he met his brother cooper. no one was allowed to bother brad…especially once brad became ill,,,buster had his back.

when it got cold…buster could frequently be seen resting his butt on brad’s legs…to keep it warm. the last day brad was at the park…buster assumed his usual position in front of brad (forming a “T”)…this time…brad gently laid his massive head on buster’s back and kept it there for a good 5 minutes. and buster stood rock solid. it was a special moment…neither moved…something neither had ever done before.

brad was never sick…hurt his knee once …a couple of years back (chasing those young males) vet recommend surgery to improve his quality of life…(hello…he spent his days lounging on the sofa watching soaps…only missing bon bons…trust me his quality of life was just fine!)…until memorial day weekend this spring. he had just been diagnosed with arthritis, and then came a stroke, or something that left him unable to walk.

and of course…his mom was away….for the first time in 9 years. so i carried him…all 140 pounds. in and out…and cared for him like a baby until she came home…i worried he was dying. BUT he wasn’t. we got him to physical therapy…and he thrived. who would have thought?! brad…in a pool…swimming…and then with cabanna girls…getting massaged, and hot/cold treatments…acupuncture….he thrived…

and then pneumonia. and mega-esophogus. and too mnay pills. and he stopped eating…and all summer we fought to get him to eat…his mom and i, and the vet’s and his beloved cabanna girls. it looked like the buffet table…i would go in and spread everything out and tempt him with everything i could to try to get him to just eat a few bites of food…anything. and he lost weight…40 pounds.

he rallied but then about a month ago the damned pneumonia came back. his mom and i carried him to the car and then the vet. we kept a vigil. he rallied on a sunday night…again we spread out the buffet..chicken and gravy, mashed potatoes, pasta, roast beef, turkey, meatballs, ham…you name it it was there…every other sick animal in the place was screaming for some…everyone but brad.

by tuesday…the decision had been made…it was time…. that afternoon brad’s family gathered around him…his vet’s, jack, his sister, his mom and me and he slipped gently away. i whispered “godspeed bb…enjoy the buffet”…through my tears.

now…fast forward a month someone had shared with brad’s mom the story of the rainbow bridge. over the course of the summer i had told her the basset version of the “grand buffet” story…something that i think is so healing. i am now planning a trip up to new hampshire for a few days…and a side trip to vermont as well..to include a run to the dog chapel and dog mountain.

brad’s mom operates a day care center…each year i bring in stephen huneck’s (he owns the chapel & dog mountain) “sally goes to the vet” and read it to the kids and the we bandage all of our collective stuffed animals.

she is familiar with that book and a little about the chapel because of that. i told her i would post things for brad on the wall for her if she wanted.

anyway…i called ahead and got a dog chapel book and rottie angel put aside. last week i arrived up at dog mountain and met with stephen and asked him to sign a book for ruthann. i asked for it to say that i know he is enjoying the buffet.

stephen asked what i meant by that. we stepped out on the porch of the gallery and chatted for a good 15 minutes…i explained the whole “buffet process.” rainbow bridge is a nice thing the buffet is a great thing…it is personal, and while sad there is humor, and joy, and hope. and that there is connection. i said i don’t know where it comes from (honestly i am oblivious to such things) but it always makes me smile and cry. i said it’s a little rowdy, maybe some table dancing, some chaos because bassets do nothing halfway.

i explained the white boxes, and the friends, and playing, the clouds, binoculars and all i could recall. and i cried, and laughed. and he teared…and laughed. and we stood outside..alone. and it was special.

his next book will deal with what happens when dogs die…and where they go…and the basset buffet will be included in it. and that’s pretty damn cool. he thanked me for sharing it with him because he had never heard anything like it before…

he asked if brad was a basset…i said no…he was a giant rottie..but he was loved by all the bassets at our dog park…especially buster…who at the mention of brad’s name..let out one of his arrooo’s. we both shivered from that. he mentioned brad might make a cameo.

all in all a special visit…as it always is at dog mountain & the chapel.

lois lema & buster brown (who has sat by me the entire time i worked on this) & mr cooper who didn’t…..

End of Lois and her guest blogging…..

Hopefully, more later….Love, Cat, Chaps and Emma

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