Buddy/Judd and his best pal

UPDATE ON BUD:
I am a former MARS person. A couple years ago, I fostered and found the perfect home for a Red Lake Rosie dog named Bud (now named Judd).

Anyway- he was a big ol' Saint Bernard mix- sweet as sweet could be.... and he had 4 inch shards of glass embedded in his back - over his rump area. I know Karen remembers him.

This boy touched my life forever and he is in the best home now with the most loving family!!! : ) I bawled my head off on the day I had to turn his leash over to his new Mom and family!! Just wanted to share that with you!

Not a day goes by that I don't think of and appreciate all the good you all do up in that neck of the woods. I applaud you all and I know there is a special, special place in heaven for you for all the wonderful miracles you make happen. I've attached a couple pictures of Bud from when he was my sweet foster boy.

I decided to go ahead and contact Bud/Judd's adoptive family to see if I could get anymore information because I too was haunted by that poor stoic, emaciated, and tortured dog when I visited Red Lake Rosie's Rescue for the first time three years ago. Please read my blog post about him from March 2008.

Denise

UPDATE FROM JUDD'S HOME:

Thank you for contacting me. Judd is terrific! I've attached a bunch of pics from the last couple years. When we adopted Judd he was with our dog, Hilda. Hilda passed away about a year after we adopted Judd. Then Chief came into our lives - I adopted him from a guy who found out he was allergic to his dog. He tried to live with his symptoms for a year and then had to give Chief up.

Chief is a purebred German Shepherd who was about a year old when we got him. Lots of energy and definitely kept Judd going. They became instant buddies as you can tell from the pics.

Chief is just as playful, but Judd is slowing down. Judd will always opt for his warm bed over romping in the snow. I guess Judd had enough cold being chained up outside with his previous owner.

He has some eating issues. He will eat a rug, a fake plant, a box of tissues, just about anything from time to time. His stomach is very sensitive so he's on a strict diet and we keep him lean because of his arthritis. We have many different meds to help him, but sometimes his episodes are just inevitable. The good thing is it passes within 24 hours and he's back to normal.

Other than that, Judd has been very healthy. He's so gentle and patient and loving and just a great big, slightly dopey dog. He's adorable and everyone loves him. All the people at our vet clinic know Judd very well from when I first brought him in and told his sad tale. He loves it there too because he gets extra special attention. The vet always jokes that she could probably do surgery on Judd completely awake because he's so good. He will quietly sit through anything they have to do to him.

He had to have another surgery to remove some more glass that came to the surface. His back is also pretty twisted, probably from the glass being in his spine. He looks like he has scoliosis and his tail is completely askew and off to one side now. He's not in pain, he just has a very hard time scratching himself and his range of motion in his back legs is less than it should be.

All in all, he's healthy though and he seems very happy. We love him and feel so fortunate to have him. Judd is great with our two cats. They sense he is harmless and let him sniff them and sit by them. Chief, that's another story. He wants to chase them and they like to taunt him. It's a love-hate relationship with Chief and the cats. Everyone loves Judd though!

Karen, I just wanted to thank you for taking care of Judd. We all really appreciate it! I'm not sure if you are the original rescuer - the one who took Judd from his previous owner - or if you know her (I think she's a teacher if I remember correctly). I hope that someone will relay the info to her that Judd is doing great and is very well loved and we can't thank her enough for taking the intiative to help Judd out of a very bad situation.

Please don't hesitate to contact me whenever you need a Bud/Judd fix. You're welcome to visit him too. Just let me know when!

Thank you again and take care, M~