I Found Our New Dog! One Rescue’s Happy Story.

“I Think I Found Our New Dog!”

This conversation started immediately after spotting her on Pet Finder.  One year old.  Short-eared, black fur, a bit of an underbite, and soft sad eyes.

A month earlier, we had unexpectedly lost our German Shepard / Husky Mix.  There aren’t words to describe the loss of this all-around “good boy.”  

We were feeling the loss.  But worse, so was Bucket.  Bucket had never been an only dog.  And she and Czar were inseparable.  Saying she missed him was an understatement.  

Czar was always with her through all of her allergy attacks, not feeling good, and long nights.  Now he was gone.  

We knew we would be getting another dog, and we knew that we wanted to rescue, but we did not have a specific breed in mind.   So we started our hunt.  We spent hours on PetFinder and other sites looking, but we weren’t sure for what.  

A couple of weeks later, I was on the phone making this announcement.

“I think I found our dog!”

Something In Her Eyes

Sharmaine.

As I sent the photo on, I found myself explaining that the picture was the variety that showed off a face “only a mother could love.”  

Tan was quick to agree with me.  This photo was not exactly complimentary. 

But there was something in her eyes.  

The description of Sharmaine is what made me stop scrolling.  A basset-hound/ cocker spaniel mix.  

I had never encountered this mix before, and it almost seemed like it was meant-to-be with our love of basset hounds and me missing my cocker spaniel, Shadow, who we had lost three years prior.  

She sure didn’t look like a basset, but the description was enough to make me stop scrolling and look into those eyes.  

In fact, to this day, we do not know what mix of breeds she is.

We guess part boxer based on her mannerisms and slight underbite, part spaniel, and possibly part lab.

Our veterinarians have had similar guesses.

Most people who meet her happily announce that our five-year-old is the cutest black lab puppy, and we are just joking about her being five.

Rescue and Full Disclosure

Without hesitation, we contacted Brown Paw Rescue and found out that Sharmaine was a super friendly young dog coming to them from the MuttNation Foundation.  

She would be on her way to a foster home, but we could fill out adoption paperwork and possibly see her the following weekend. 

A couple of days before we were supposed to meet her and hopefully bring our Sharmaine home, we got a call from Brown Paw Rescue’s owner.

As the wonderful woman on the other end of the line spoke, our hearts became even more sure that Sharmaine would come home with us.

Sharmaine (who would quickly become “Bones”) had a bad leg and had tested positive for Demodex mange.  

Veterinarians had treated the mange, but it left her fur looking less than lustrous.  

The leg sort of bent at an odd angle and caused her to limp when she ran a lot.  Brown Paw Rescue wanted to be transparent about this because they weren’t sure what medical treatment she may need in the future.  

Two days later, we pulled into a McDonald's parking lot halfway between Brown Paw and our home.  

While we talked with Brown Paw Rescue’s owner about our new family member, now named “Bones,” Bones crawled into our daughter’s lap and promptly fell asleep.  

Her comfort and trust were beyond amazing to us.  This dog who had been to shelters, had suffered the damaged leg, was coming from a rescue, and just met us- curled up, sound asleep in our daughter’s lap like it was the safest place in the world. 

Bones was home.

How Things Heal

We knew that we loved her immediately.  

However, it was only over the next few months that we learned just how amazing she truly is. 

Our veterinarian verified that Bones had suffered a compound fracture in her front left leg.  The scar on her leg confirmed it.  

The angle that her leg healed means that it was likely broken and not set and that it healed naturally.

The pain we feel at knowing she suffered while it healed on its own is almost unbearable.

The prognosis is as good as it can be.  Bones will likely get arthritis in that leg, and when she runs a lot, it will get sore, and she may need pain medication.  But it won’t get worse by playing and running, and our vet assures us that if someday, it gets to where it hurts her every day, she will handle an amputation much better than we will.  

We are lucky to have a vet who does cold-laser treatments, which seems to calm the leg when we catch her starting to limp on it.  

For now, she can run and play and have a great time and will only begin to limp after hours of hard play.  

From what we can tell from the records we have, Bones initially was from Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she received her first shelter tag.  

She then ended up rescued by MuttNation and moved to Brown Paw Rescue in Wisconsin.

This poor girl had been through a lot.  Between her leg, unfamiliar faces, shelters, and encounters with many dogs, we expected that she may be a bit timid or not know that she should stay with us when we were out.

We were wrong.  

Making Friends

Bucket was excited to meet her new sister but didn’t know how to play.  Her early years of allergy-induced illness did not include much play time.  

Learn more about Bucket’s story here.

Bones immediately became the perfect mix of supportive friend and an irritating younger sister who throws her toy in your face until you have to play with her.  If you follow our Instagram, you will see pictures of this in action. 

She knew exactly how far to push Bucket to get her to play and when it was the time just to run along next to her.  

About two weeks after she came home with us, we took her on a trip with us to a cabin on a lake. 

Without any lessons, she stayed with us. 

She came when we called.

She stayed nearby off-leash and played with every dog she met. 

Bones, we learned, somehow has the best dog-manners we have ever encountered.  She has met some of the crabbiest dogs I know and comes out being their best friend.  She somehow just knows. 

4 Years Later…

Bones is the most snuggly, happy dog we have met. 

She loves company and will desperately try to convince anyone who walks in the door that she never gets any attention, they should love her, and they should sit right down on the floor so she can lick their face and snuggle in their lap.

Her favorite place to nap is still in the lap of her favorite people, and when she sleeps, she gets heavy.  

We are not 100% sure how that happens.  But it does.  When Bones sleeps, she sort of melts into you and gains about ten pounds.

Just like the day we met her.

“I think I found our dog.”

For More Bones Pictures and Videos Check Her Out On Instagram @bucketandbones .

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