Rainbow Bridge has a new addition...

I have asked Renee Cook to write something special about Buster, who went to the Bridge last week. He was very much adored, as all dogs should be, and we were very sad to hear of their loss. Buster was from an "oops" litter, but he sure wasn't an oops to his family. His dad was Taz (Ashbrook Devil's Advocate), my tri color Cimmeron x Kitty son, and mom was the infamous Sophie (Ashbrook Sweet Dreams), who still rules the roost here at almost 14 years old. Rest well, dear Buster.

Buster came into our home and hearts in the summer of 2001. He joined our family of three. It was Tim, me and Kenai (our 50/50 McKenzie River Husky/Wolf mix). Kenai was Tim’s dog that came with him from Alaska. He was attached at the hip to Tim and clearly knew that Tim was the alpha male. Beyond that, however, he clearly lacked socialization skills with other dogs. Large dogs, especially. His wild side made it impossible for him to “make nice”.  I had experience with English Cockers having owned one years before. I knew of their wonderful temperament with other dogs and children (I had three younger ones at the time). Enter Buster! Ah, what a lover he was….he quickly won over Kenai and they became the best of friends, alas brothers. Kenai became like a pup again playing whenever Buster beckoned. He always let Buster think he won. So cute to watch they were! Several years went by and unfortunately we lost Kenai suddenly. It was a great loss to us, especially Tim. What we didn’t expect, I guess was how greatly it affected Buster. Seems he took it the hardest. He became deeply depressed and lethargic. We called Tracey and asked about a “little brother or sister”. Brady entered the picture. Interestingly Brady was not the most sociable of puppies from the start. Not to worry, big brother Buster took over and quickly made him welcome. His depression lifted and he was back to being our loving boy!

Sadly this past January we noticed that Buster was losing weight and seemed to have lost that spring in his step. We took him to our local vet in rural Hibbing, Minnesota where we were living at the time. He ran some basic blood work which showed an elevated Calcium. This could mean “a lot of things” the vet said. (I am a physician, so I knew that ultimately it could mean cancer in a dog his age, but I hoped against hope this wouldn’t be the cause). Unfortunately in June we found out it was anal cancer when we took Buster for definitive testing at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. They told us our options of which surgery was one. This would not be curative and perhaps only give us six more months with our beloved guy. He might not even survive the procedure. We opted for comfort care measures and were told with his type of cancer he should not be feeling much pain. They said perhaps a few weeks, maybe a month. We also chose to give him daily steroids to stimulate his appetite. Amazingly he lived another 3.5 months. His appetite increased. He looked better. We were thrilled that he made the trip back to our home in Springfield, Illinois. There were days when he had that familiar spring back in his step. He enjoyed sitting in his camp chair outside. Most of all he loved being at his daddy’s side.

When we brought Buster home, I thought he would be a Mama’s dog. Boy was I wrong!  Buster was and always will be Tim’s heart dog! I loved him dearly but when Tim was away and Buster was with me, it was Tim he was always looking for. At the end the day before he died, Tim was out hunting. Buster looked at me and told me he was getting close to the end. His eyes told me to call Tim home. I did. He spent the rest of that day in his daddy’s arms. The next day we said goodbye to him. Tim held him as he crossed over the rainbow bridge. Until we see you again, our beloved Buster……we love you and will miss you.

Buster (May 19, 2001 – October 19, 2009)

Written by Renee Cook
October 26, 2009
(1st Birthday Party - Buster is on the far left, and group baby picture, 2nd from the right)