By Leonard Rizzo

It was early February when I told the tale of two old timers who needed a home. I had taken them on as Lennie’s Kids and paid for all their needs until a home was found.
Beautiful little Gidget is doing superbly in her new home after over a month being fostered by Barb, a Landrum vet groomer. After meeting with her new family I couldn’t be more pleased with the outcome.

This left dear old Baxter who had been fostered at Kayla Parrish’s home for nearly three months.  Before I go on, bless you Kayla.

Baxter is a male Boxer who is tiny for his breed.  At first we estimated his age to be between eight and nine years old.  He has one eye that is a bit clouded over and may have been damaged earlier in life. He has a white muzzle that comes with age, but everything else about him exudes youth. He’s playful, strong and “oh, how he can love.”

He was adopted out once but the dear folks thought they were helping an old couch potato, which Baxter definitely is not! I’ve recently learned much of Baxter’s signs of age may have come from stress and a new evaluation puts him as young as perhaps six or seven.

This news thrilled me because it means he may have a good five years or more to live and if Baxter remains true to his breed, he will live each moment of it to the fullest.

 

When Kayla called and told me Baxter has a new home pending, I asked her to relate to me the details. It seems Bobbie Shannon had sent Beth Culbreath to look at two fosters at Kayla’s. The first greeted Beth and simply moved on to other things. Baxter gave Beth the Boxer greeting of joy and Beth simply said, “I’ll take this one.” I have since seen Beth and Baxter together, and in such a short time, you would think they’ve been together forever.

I was there at Landrum Vet when we turned over all the paperwork to Beth, along with new tags for Baxter. He had a bag of the finest grain free food going home with him and his new mom showed me the fancy heated bed she’d bought for the old fella. A large towel was placed on the front seat and Baxter hopped in and waited as we said our goodbyes like he’s done this everyday of his life.

As they drove away the dam burst and tears that I couldn’t control ran down my cheeks.  “Are you alright?” my dear wife asked.  As I smiled and wiped away another tear, I answered, “I couldn’t be better.”
Thanks for listening.