The Very Good Dog family just adopted another pup! I am so excited to love and share Bosco with all the Very Good Dog readers. He is such a very sweet boy with a heartbreaking story that has a fairy tale ending. 

Bosco was on a road trip vacation with his previous “family.” While traveling, he appeared to get ill, so they found a vet in the town they were in. His body was having muscular issues and the local vet wanted to run some tests to determine exactly what was wrong with Bosco. The vet had a slight feeling it may be Myasthenia gravis but needed to receive lab results before determining the exact and sudden cause of Bosco’s muscular issues and seizures. That “family” chose to not wait for the test results. When he needed them the absolute most, they surrendered Bosco on site to the vet! A vet they had no history with and came across because that’s where they happened to be when Bosco got sick. All of this happened while they still have another dog with whom Bosco was bonded. They just left and went about their road trip vacation, leaving Bosco alone, scared, and possibly with a treatable auto-immune issue. 

When his labs came back, Bosco was cleared of Myasthenia gravis! The wonderful vet thought it was a strong possibility that he ate some toxic plants or mushrooms, as he’d been seeing a few cases like that in the area at the time. The vet connected with the local humane society to find Bosco a foster and then forever home. 

Bosco hit the jackpot on foster parents, they were loving, gentle, attentive, kind, and fell madly in love with him as well. Which is easy to do, because Bosco is an absolute love bug. The foster parents nursed him back to health, with no expectations of keeping him, they just did it because they are wonderful people who love dogs. Under their tender care and love Bosco began to thrive and recover. I am forever thankful that he had them until we could find him. 

Meanwhile, a friend sent me a video from the humane society of Bosco in Colorado about four hours away from where I live. I felt a connection immediately. I was drawn to him and I couldn’t stop watching all the updates about Bosco. I felt this pull across social media and the mountains. I could see and feel that he needed to be with my family and that we could love on him so very much. He just looked so sweet and had the kindest eyes. His story broke my heart. We’d been thinking about getting a second dog. We’d told the kids that we wanted to get back into a school groove now that they’re back to in-person learning after 18 months of being at home. We weren’t sure if we wanted a puppy, but it was on the table. I thought we could wait until the bears go into hibernation so nighttime potty breaks would be safer. That is where our minds were when Bosco waddled across my screen, recovering from his illness. Bosco isn’t a puppy, but he is around 18 months old, give or take a few months, we aren’t certain. He’s older than Duke, though. But, this means, I don’t have to worry about middle of the night pees, because he is old enough. School began a few weeks ago, the boys have a routine again. The timing seemed to fall into place. Kismet. Serendipity. Luck. Fate. 

I told my husband and I went ahead and reached out to the humane society and connected with them to explain how much we were interested in meeting Bosco with our boy Duke to see if they’d hit it off. I was able to plan a very last minute Labor Day weekend trip to meet him. My kids were over the moon excited and as all in for Bosco Bear as we adults were.

The moment he laid eyes on us and burst through his foster parent’s door, Bosco greeted my husband and me like he’d known us his entire life. We were covered in kisses and tail wags and snuggles. He was the same with the kids and Duke! It was an instant connection between everyone. The humane society and the foster family really felt Bosco needed to be with kids, another dog, and wanted to give him an Alpine life in the mountains. Our family checked all the boxes with an instant connection. It went so well that Bosco came home with us that afternoon. It took about six hours to drive home that day, between potty, eating stops, and also getting pulled over for speeding a pinch, but it was an adventure! Which in our family is the best way to be initiated, because our motto is that life is always an adventure together. 

Bosco has adjusted really well. We are just a few days in and we all already feel so in love and attached to him. I truly adore him and feel that same pang of missing him as I do Duke when I’ve left the house to just run errands. We’ve bonded. It’s funny because the foster parents mentioned they tried to allow him on their bed and couches, but he refused. No one was sure why, it was assumed it wasn’t allowed at his previous home. But he saw Duke lounging on everything and by bedtime the first night, Bosco worked up the courage to leap on our bed. He slept there all night, snuggled tight against my husband, even wrapping his paws around my husband’s neck, making sure he couldn’t leave. He’s since made his home anywhere and everywhere he sees fit as he’s quickly picked up that dogs are family in this home.

He follows us around everywhere as it seems he has a bit of separation anxiety, but that is to be expected after being abandoned so carelessly. I reassure him that I’m just grabbing a sweater and I will never ever choose to leave him. He’s ours from here on out. (he doesn’t understand my words, but I hope my comforting tone gives him some kind of reassurance and time will help with that too) He fits in though because Duke is a COVID pup and he often has separation anxiety when we have to now leave without him as the world has opened and the kids are back in school. We are overjoyed to have him in our lives and so thankful that we accepted this new adventure as a family. 

Please give Bosco Bear a big welcome! He will happily lap up the attention and pats and snugs. He’s a gem of a dog and it blows my mind that anyone could just walk away from him on a healthy day, let alone a time when he is ill and scared and needs his momma. Bosco Bear, you have me as a momma now, and I will always be by your side. Just ask Dukey Doo and your human brothers!