“Meet Me Monday:” Baxter’s Story

                                                                     
Baxter Kashmir Schmidt (@HandsomeBaxter) is a twitter pal from Norway, Maine. Baxter lives with his human, Lynne, and her boyfriend, Damien. Baxter says of Damien, “I get mad at him because he steals my spot on the couch.” Baxter does not have any fursiblings and says, “I wish I did, but I don’t.” This is Baxter’s story.

Baxter is almost 7 years old, and is a male, Boxer/German Shepherd mix, but as Baxter says, “If you talk to the landlord, Lynne doesn’t know.” Baxter is mostly brown with one completely white paw that he says, “Lynne calls it my ‘Michael Jackson Paw’ and she has a tattoo of it on her leg.”

 

Baxter was about 9 weeks old when Lynne found him outside of a retail store in Michigan. Baxter says, “Lynne just wanted to play with a puppy, not take one home, but when I crawled into her lap, we both knew she was my person, and I was her best friend. It was love at first sight.”

Baxter says Lynne never had a “baby dog” before, so he had to “learn everything with her. I peed everywhere and pooed every time she left me alone. Plus, I had crippling separation anxiety. Things are better now.”

 

Baxter says he likes tacos (without onions), long walks (when it’s not raining), the beach (when not too close to the actual water), snuggling with Lynne (and ONLY Lynne), soccer (can fit the whole ball in his mouth), snow, sitting in laps (when least expected), nice people, and any human food that drops on the floor.

Baxter say he dislikes baths, rivers, oceans, rain, getting wet, guys and or dogs that try to come near Lynne, dogs who try to attack him, mean people, people who wear fur, toys that taste weird, dog treats that he doesn’t pick out, and bumping into things because of his 120 pound size.

 

I asked Baxter how he and his human, Lynne, saved each other. Lynne got really sick, physically and emotionally, and Baxter says he helped Lynne heal because “Every day she woke up, she gave me food, let me go outside to go potty. I kept her moving. I got her off the couch. Lynne called a friend to see if he’d take care of me after she killed herself, and he didn’t answer, so she couldn’t leave me.” After a terminated pregnancy and failed suicide attempt, Lynne took herself and Baxter to a new place where Lynne reinvented herself and they started a new life. Baxter says, “She changed her name, chopped her hair off, but I knew the truth, and I still love her.”

Baxter says that Lynne tells him, “You saved my life, it’s time for me to save yours.” Right now Lynne is working on saving Baxter’s life. April of this year Baxter started having bloody noses. It wasn’t every day, but it was occurring frequently enough for concern. After numerous tests and over $3,000 in vet bills, they still do not know what is wrong with Baxter. They do know that it is NOT cancer, so that is good. Baxter is on medication and everyone is hoping it will cure whatever is wrong with him.

If you are interested in reading more about Baxter or Lynne please see Lynne’s blog at http://thesubmissionprocess.blogspot.com/p/baxter.html. Lynne also has set up a fundraising site to help with Baxter’s medical expenses here at http://www.gofundme.com/2s950o.

Thank you to both Baxter and Lynne for sharing their story for “Meet Me Monday” on my blog. Please leave a comment for Baxter and or Lynne below. If you would like to share your story, please email me at abbydawgblog@gmail.com. I look forward to hearing from you.