herbie the love bug

My family and I adopted our second BROOD dog on December 21st. My boys (13 and 12) had put on their Christmas list: "A dog. (a live one.)" Guess they know me too well. I would have purchased them a stuffed animal dog! After all, we already had our first BROOD dog, Chester, and our "rescued from a pet store" dachshund, Larry. But my kids pulled at my heartstrings and my first stop was the BROOD website. I, of course, fell in love with every single dog up for adoption. 

On December 21, 2008, we adopted a rambunctious little fella named Herbie. He is a rather long bodied, long eared red and white basset. I found out through Herbie's papers that he arrived at an animal clinic in Virginia weighing only 34.5 lbs. He was approximately 39 lbs. when we adopted him. It was so sad to see all of his ribs, his spine, his skull, etc. He has a rather large Bassett face and my husband would often ask, "I wonder if Herbie is ever going to grow into his face?" 

Herbie was a biter and a stubborn little boy when he arrived at our house. Fortunately, he has come to trust all of us and know we are only here to love him and keep him safe. He has turned around 180 degrees from the early days. He lets us hug him, walk him, he patiently waits for his dinner (well, as patient as bassets can be when they know their food is near!) and he goes into his crate with just a couple of treats to bribe him. He gets so excited when we get home that we can't even begin to hide from the kisses! He loves his four legged brothers and is rather fond of chasing Larry; to the point of Larry having to hide under the couches! 

Herbie and I went to his latest veterinarian appointment recently. He is doing very well and is up to 59.4 lbs (his ideal weight). On one of our previous visits, I had asked the vet why Herbie's face was so big. He told me that his nose had been widened and made a little crooked because he probably had been living for an extended period of time in a crate that was too small. He guessed that Herbie had no room in his crate thus his nose being pressed upon the wall of the crate. Now that Herbie trusts us, I finally got a look at his teeth. He has practically no bottom teeth, worn down top teeth and a couple of broken canines. I asked the vet why they were all broken. He looked in Herbie's mouth and turned to me and said, "These teeth aren't broken. They have been ground down to the gum most likely due to trying to chew out of a metal crate." I started crying.

My family and are so grateful to all of the people who make BROOD successful!! Your hard work and dedication does not go unnoticed! I will always have bassets and I will always get them from BROOD. So, to all of you considering adopting . . . give these guys (and gals!) a shot! With the love and attention they so deserve many turn out to be the best dogs ever. As I say to my friends, "My rough around the edges, junk yard dogs sure turned into princes!"

With all of our thanks,

Karen, Tim, JB, Mike, Chester, Larry and Herbie