Special Feature

March 4th, 2010

Bosco

From good friend and former high school classmate, Don Stuhldreier, who now lives in Massachussetts, comes this memory that should touch each of us:

I'm thinking it was Spring of 1995. One early Sunday afternoon, I was making a few minor home repairs, including caulking the garage door.

My wife mentioned that she was going to make a run to 'The Andersons', which is a Toledo area landmark business. Grocery store/nursery-garden center/hardware store/etc., etc. She asked me if I needed anything, and said she wouldn't be gone long. I asked her to get me a spare tube of caulk, and showed her the brand.

After she left, I continued with my chores, and really didn't pay much attention to the time until 2-1/2 to 3 hours had passed. I had run out of caulk, but continued on with other tasks. By the time I realized how long she had been gone, I only had a few minutes to fret before she pulled into the driveway. She got out, strolled into the garage, where I was still working, and said,"You'll never guess what I got you!"

"Caulk?" I asked.

"Oh darn! I forgot the caulk."

She said, "I need your help getting it into the house," and she led me to the car. In the backseat was the mangiest dog I had seen in my life. A chow/shepherd mix, fully grown, but skin and bones, and very timid. I hooked a leash on his collar, but he refused to come out of the car.

It seems the Fulton County animal shelter was having 'adoption day' at the Anderson's pet department, and Bosco was one of the orphans.

Obviously undernourished, and not so obviously abused, he was too weak to stand on his own for long. His coat was dull, and matted. I carried him into the house, and knew right away he had never been inside before. He sat in the kitchen, and stared at the ceiling. After getting him fed and watered we set up a comfortable place to curl up.

It took almost a week to get him used to the setting, and then we took him out on the deck, and the large fenced backyard. He walked off the deck, but kept looking back, as though he was expecting a chain to stop him any minute. Once he realized he was free, he took off running, but his atrophied muscles gave out after just a few strides.

A month of good meals, several baths, and a lot of family attention worked it's magic, and he was transformed into an energetic, friendly, and loving pet. We would open the slider to the deck, and off he would go, running in a figure 8 to the corners of the yard, non-stop for hours.
We've had a number of family dogs, but none was ever better than our orphan. His name was Bosco, and we didn't want to change it. Other wise I would have named him 'Caulk'. We took him back to the Anderson's when they had another adoption day, and the attendents remembered him, but couldn't believe what he had become.

Bosco died of old age last year, but that dog reminded me that wonderful pets can be found at the shelters.