Mackey came to B.O.N.E.S. from a bad situation in central Massachusetts. He was underweight and limped painfully. X-rays revealed a displaced femur fracture in his right hind leg – it was amazing that Mackey could use the leg at all. The options didn't look hopeful, but with help from the B.O.N.E.S. Medical Director, a carefully-structured exercise program, and a lot of TLC, he can now lead a normal life.
As Mackey recovered from his injuries, long-time B.O.N.E.S. adopter John was mourning the loss of his long-time beagle companion, Hudson, whose "Chronicles" were documented here for many years. John was settling into a new job with lots of driving, and Mackey loved to ride... a great match. John and Mackey will both share their viewpoints with us on this page.
Greetings from Maine. I just put the hose and bucket away after washing the truck for the first time in a long time! We are getting ready for another extended stay down in Baltimore.
The week before last, I was heading down to Portland to load a barge section to take back to Pittsfield. I had Mackey in the truck and was locking up when Dispatch called. They asked if I could go to Kittery first and pick up a small piece that had to go to Pittsfield ASAP. The only problem: the shipyard in Kittery had a temporary ban on dogs on base, so Mackey had to stay home.
I put him back in the house without too much resistance and off I went. A short while later, I remembered that I forgot both to close the bedroom doors and to put the chairs up on the table.
Later that day, I got home to a very excited and happy beagle. We did a couple of laps around the property and went back inside for dinner. A quick search showed that he had left his mark on my side of the bed beside my pillow. He sure planned that out! At least he didn't mark the kitchen table (although that would have been easier to clean!).
I stripped the bed and put in a load of laundry. After a while, I started to hear a faint beeping and tracked it down to the washer. I had forgotten to turn the water back on after I returned home! The washer had shut down and I couldn't figure out how to unlock it. I couldn't even get the laundry out.
The next morning, I made arrangements for a repairman to look at it. He couldn't stop by until the following afternoon, when Mackey and I would be on our way to Florida, so I made arrangements so he could let himself in. Fortunately, it was a simple fix. When we returned from Florida, I had a working washer again.
John has been busy washing the truck and packing it up for what looks like a long trip! I hope we're going to Baltimore.
One day a few weeks ago we were getting ready to head out. I was sitting in the copilot seat, when all of a sudden John took me out of the truck and put me back in the house. After that he left! I didn't know what to do! I paced around a lot and but I realized that I was on my own.
I decided to leave a little surprise for him when he got home. After that, I got comfortable and waited.
When I heard the truck coming down the street, I got so excited. As soon as John came through the door, I jumped all over him. We went outside and I marked everything in the yard. Back inside he gave me my dinner and then he started to walk around looking for something.
Then I remembered my little surprise.
After finding out that I was a bad dog, he stripped the bedding and put it in the washer. After a little while he was pushing buttons on the machine, trying to open the door, reading stuff and doing a lot of talking to himself.
If I hadn't known better, I'd have thought he was telling it that it was a bad machine! Maybe I was off the hook!
Anyway, I think John learned his lesson, because he took me with him the following day.
That's about all for now.
