The only person he seemed to trust was a man who visited the park daily during his lunch break. This big, gentle dog would linger nearby, never close enough to be caught, but just near enough to show he was curious. The man began bringing food and shared this dog’s plight on the NextDoor app, hoping someone could help.

That call for help reached a fellow rescuer who then reached out to Kris. At the time the call came in, Kris and Hailey were on the final leg of their journey back from Florida. Despite being exhausted, they agreed to head straight to the park upon arriving in Houston. Meanwhile, others worked quickly to secure a foster home for the big, wary dog.

At the park, the dog remained cautious but clearly interested in the man he’d been following. Kris asked Hailey and the man to stay back while she approached him slowly, trying to read his temperament. As she approached him, he moved over to a picnic table and lounged on the seat, keeping an eye on all of the humans nearby. As she slowly walked toward the picnic table, he got down and started walking toward the lake on the other side of the sidewalk. Not ideal for capture, but his demeanor was never threatening, just wary, and thankfully he stayed close. However, he never took his eyes or interest off of Kris. She sat down on the sidewalk, facing away from him so there was no eye contact to threaten him and held a piece of hotdog behind her, palm up. It didn’t take long for his curiosity to win out, and he started to approach with his nose leading the way to the hotdog! When he finally, very gently, took the hotdog from Kris’ palm, he stayed close, lingering as she was talking softly to him. Eventually, he walked around to face Kris head on and walked straight up to her, slowly, and pressed his head against her chest, eyes and head lowered. He simply wanted to be loved. She slipped the red leash over his head and he gratefully wagged his tail and flipped over for a belly rub!

Once secured in a crate in Kris’ truck, he was taken to a local vet. He was not a happy pup being confined in the crate! Nevertheless, he arrived at the vet, quite noisily but never aggressive. He had a deep gash on the inside of his leg that required stitches and he needed to be neutered. The vet agreed to board him overnight for surgery the next morning. After leaving the dog at the vet, Kris spoke with a potential foster over the phone while others involved in his rescue began the search for a potential permanent home.

Since the potential foster seemed like a good fit, Kris and Hailey picked up the dog, now called “Buddy,” from the vet the next day and took him to the foster’s home to ensure it was suitable. Unfortunately, the situation wasn’t what they had been led to believe and was not going to work. With no safe place for Buddy to go, and animal control likely to turn him away due to pandemic overflow, Kris and Hailey faced a tough decision.

Her house was already full, and even the garage room was occupied by Gypsy. Every rescue organization that they reached out to was overwhelmed. The only offer Kris was able to get was financial help, if she could foster him herself. This time period was long before Rags To Tags Rescue & Sanctuary was established, but one of the reasons for its existence in 2024. Chuck, Hailey, and Kris talked about what the possibilities were, and they decided to clean out Hailey’s work area in the garage and move Gypsy into the house permanently, freeing up the garage room for Buddy. It was the only place they could secure him, since he was not necessarily dog friendly and there were quite a few other dogs inside the house at the time.

Kris stayed in the garage room with him for the first few nights so he felt safe and knew he’d be taken care of. He was content, sleeping peacefully between walks to the big dog run to chase squirrels and see the world for what seemed like the first time. He was a little overwhelmed at the horses next door, the dogs walking by on the road, and especially the squirrels in the trees all around him! It seemed like he was experiencing the world for the first time. Every day was a new adventure. During his first few weeks at the Barber’s house, he developed a special bond with Chuck. His inner Husky voice would emerge any time he saw Chuck – he got so excited! It seemed pretty clear that Kris and Hailey were acceptable care takers, but his favorite human was Chuck!!

As the Barbers have done with all of the dogs in their care, Buddy got a nickname – “Boudreaux.” Once they started calling him Boudreaux, or Bou, or Bou-Bou, it stuck. Although he is called “Buddy” from time to time, he was really renamed Boudreaux.

Boudreaux is looking for the right family to adopt him & give him a warm bed, lots of belly rubs, and a treat every now and again – but he needs to be an only dog unless a trainer can work with him trusting other dogs.