[Dailydrool] Buford

[K. Green]

For the past few years I had a busy job. Then we added two kids to the mix
and combined that left very little time to read the drool or contribute.
But I recently quit my job and took a less stressful job working at a local
brewery so I'm hoping I can read and contribute a little more often. Today,
I'll update on Buford, who we adopted in June but I've shared very little
about.

Buford is 10 and came to us from GGBR. He was relinquished by his
owner, who we were told was in her 70's and her boyfriend didn't want him
to mess up the new house they bought. Well he's quite the looker, tri-color
with a beautiful lace ear. And he's pretty sweet though I don't think he
expected to end up spending his retirement years in a busy home with two
wild hooligan children. He enjoys sleeping in their room since they have a
space heater, noise machine and sky projector. But overall he merely
tolerates the children themselves.

Unfortunately, on his transport route to our home he was attacked by a
German shepherd at a rest stop. He was fine, just had a little scratch on
his snooter, but with us he is dog-agressive. I don't know if he was before
- he was fostered at a home with multiple bassets and no incident, so I
have to assume this behavior is a result of the incident at the rest stop.
Anyway, it sucks because we always enjoyed taking Cow and Ru to the beach
and dog park and walks, and now we just can't trust Buford so he
doesn't get out nearly as much as he should. I walk him on our little lane,
but he rarely gets to go to public places. I had him unleashed in the front
yard while we sat out there and he went all kujo toward a dog walking by
who was on leash. It was quite embarrassing, though all were ok and Buford
was mostly talk.

Aside from the occasional kujo activity, Buford acts like a very old
10-year old. Rupert and Cowboy lived to 12 and 14 respectively and had
loads more energy than this guy. My husband calls him "the guy on the
couch" because he is basically like a typical stoner college roommate, just
sleeping most of the day. Often he doesn't even ask for breakfast which is
crazy in our experience as basset slaves! Unfortunately, he is awake more
at night than in the day, so he asks to be let out to pee and bark a few
times each night. I'm okay with this routine. You see when he first arrived
at our home, he would pee in the house every night. We finally blocked his
access to his preferred urination spot and so he started barking to be let
out. I'm good with that. Also, I'm often awake throughout the night with
our 1 year old so it's not a huge deal. James hates it though. Mostly
because Buford sleeps all day and then keeps James up all night asking to
be let out, let back in, let back out, etc.

Buford also has terrible skin. We feed a limited ingredient high quality
kibble, but he still is missing hair and is frequently scratching himself.
Our vet provided a medicated shampoo for weekly baths, medicated wipes and
a recommendation to put him on Apoquel. With a job and two toddlers, I can
do the wipes but weekly baths are a stretch. I'd also rather not do the
Apoquel. It's expensive and has lots of possible side effects. So I've been
researching alternatives. Has anyone had success with any alternative
approaches? I read that Yucca is a natural alternative treatment and I
found a product called Spunky that contains Yucca along with lots of other
vitamins and nutrients. It gets really good reviews for the energy it gives
old dogs, so I ordered some. Hoping it might help his skin, but even if
not, maybe it will help his energy level. I'll report back once we receive
it and start giving it to Bu.

Not much else to report right now, hope everyone is having a nice Friday. I
agree with Douglas about the good old days on the drool. Like I mentioned
above, I'll try to participate more now that I have a little more time
during the workday.

Kacy with Buford
+ Frankie & Stevie (the miniature hooligans)
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