23-075 Bodhi is a 3-year-old neutered Goldendoodle. It was a hard surrender by the owner, as Bodhi had been his buddy and hiking partner since he was 1-and-1⁄2 years old. He was surrendered because while his dad was taking Bodhi for a walk, he started to pull causing him to fall, hit his head and cause a concussion. Also, since his fiancée is pregnant with a high-risk pregnancy, he was concerned that Bodhi might knock her over – he is energetic, very strong, friendly, and needs obedience training and the owner had no time to do it. 

Bodhi received our standard vetting with all vaccinations and bloodwork and was found to have a large cyst-like mass on the side of his chest and a nodule on his spleen. The pathologist report indicated a mast cell tumor requiring surgery, which was done in October 2023. A follow-up report stated the splenic nodule was benign, and the mast cell tumor was low grade and not expected to spread, but the deep surgical margins presented a risk for the tumor to regrow locally. After seeing an oncologist, we decided that Bodhi would have two treatments of electrochemotherapy to kill residual tumor cells to reduce the risk of recurrence.

After being boarded for 3 months, Bodhi was transported to a members couple for fostering while he received treatment for his cancer. After a month, Bodhi went to his new home in Tempe with an adoptive family and their 4-month-old Bernadoodle, Frank. Unfortunately, after a month Bodhi was returned to Rescue – Frank wanted to play constantly, and since Bodhi wasn’t interested, the puppy started to display excessive barking behavior that was difficult to control. So, Bodhi was transported back to the fosters for another month before he found his forever home with an adoptive couple in Phoenix. The adopters will take Bodhi to his follow up appointment in September to recheck his mast cell tumor area. The family commented that they love Bodhi, and he is doing well. They took him up North for the Memorial Day holiday, and Bodhi really enjoyed it. Bodhi has been through a lot, and now it’s time to enjoy life with his new family! They wrote: 

Bodhi has been a wonderful addition to our family. He was a fit from the moment we met him. We feel so lucky to have been chosen to have him be part of our lives. He is such a sweet, easy-going pup and he brings us so much joy! He loves his morning walks and then likes to chill out for the rest of the day. He has a funny thing he does when we get home – he is excited to greet us and then promptly sticks his head between our legs for pets and comfort. We get a real kick out of that! 

This story just reinforces our belief that the right family is out there somewhere for every dog we rescue, but that it may take a while to to find that family!