Leroy the 8yo bloodhound came to AARF with a long and sad history, to match his big ears and droopy face. Originally he was surrendered due to re-location and it took a long time for him to find his way to us. Along the way he experienced things no animal should. He was tied to a tree resulting in tooth damage, he gained 30+ pounds which took a toll on his old and arthritic bones and it culminated with him being dumped at an adoption day event.

Throughout all of that, AARF still saw something in this big, sweet boy that he didn't see in himself. My friend, hockey teammate and AARF volunteer, Casey Cash approached me, knowing my husband Mike and I have two older basset hounds.  She was desperate. Leroy was depressed and AARF was strapped. They were out of 'room at the inn' nearing Christmas 2014, and she was hoping we could help, if just for a little.

 She arranged a late Sunday night meeting at Coshok's Kennel and for the first time we met. He took a minute to warm up to Mike but eventually he snuggled in and even talked to us, something Casey said was rare as of late. We couldn't bring him home that night and it broke our hearts to make that big lump of goofy dog sleep on a concrete floor for one more night. The next day we fostered him.  That lasted a day. I returned the following day to Coshok's and they looked so concerned. "Oh no, what happened?" they asked.  I told them we came back to adopt him and it was met with tears of joy.

Since coming to join our pack, Leroy has claimed all the toys in the house, enjoyed exploring the huge fenced yard with his siblings, loved on our god kids like they were his own, and learned to trust again. We are always impressed at how high he can fling his slobber.  Leroy is a big, fluffy, sweet, slobbery goof who has made our pack complete at 5. 

Thanks to AARF, its supporters and volunteers and especially Casey.

Lots of love and slobber,
Mandy, Mike, Dopey, Rex and Leroy