Saber Tails   

ISummer 2014    

www.pbgv.org

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15-year-old Lucy, we thought what a great dog she was.
After starting with foster care, we got the urge to get an-
other dog and explored what breed Lucy was. After we 
determined that she was mixed with PBGV, we set out to
understand more about the breed and how to find one.
We looked on the Internet, the AKC site and rescue sites.
After some period of time, we got a phone call from Sandy
Bustin about a three-year-old (we believe younger) female
PBGV in Florida. I was ready to drive there and get her,
but the rescue group had to do their thing. Then they
called to say that after being in their care and having her
gone over by their vet, we could adopt her.” 

Penny continues: “Lily was with us for a little over a

week. We got Lily on a Thursday and the Falks came up
the following Friday. Lee took the day off work to meet
them (he was really smitten with that little critter). When
they got here, Miss Lily greeted Janice Falk and you could
see that it was instant love all around. Mike Falk is just the
kindest, gentlest man we could have hoped for to be this
little girl’s new daddy. It was so funny, Janice gave me a
lovely gift of Lily Pulitzer jewelry and it took me three
weeks to get the connection in the name. Duh! The 
hardest part was seeing Lily go, but that was the best 
part too, because we knew that she was headed for the
best life ever! I still get pictures from Mike and they melt
my heart!”

From Michael: “After getting Lily home, we took a 

family shot with her new sister Sasha, our 10-year-old 
rescue terrier mix who we think really missed Lucy. At the
time, we were also fostering a little Australian pup named
Emma that is now a permanent member of the family. 
At first, because of her background of being tied to a tree
and so alone, Lily really didn’t know how to play with
other dogs. But now she and Emma play all day long. She
is so gentle with the pup, vs. Sasha, who wants no part 
of her, but what is nice is that Lily and Emma are great
playmates. Lily is the best, and can now do all kinds of
tricks — sit, stay, down, shake, roll over — she is copying
the training with Emma.

“Lily is a bundle of joy and loves her toys, food, 

sleeping in beds (she loves to wedge between the pillows),
walks, and cries with joy when we get home, adding in a
few PBGV howls as well! She has the sweetest disposition
and is the lover of the group. She only wants you to pet
her and hug her, and if you bend down to her she will
give you nothing but kisses. It is amazing that a dog with
such a tough start could turn out so good. We couldn’t be
happier with Lily; she has added to our house what we
were missing when Lucy left us, but yet brings in her own
personality that we wouldn’t trade for anything!

“We still foster, and I would encourage anybody who

has a particular breed dog in mind first go to the Rescue of
the AKC breed before going the puppy route. You would
be saving a life and usually end up with a great dog. 
However, if a puppy is what you want, then there are great
breeders out there. But we have always gone the rescue
route. Thank you PBGV Rescue, Sandy, Pam and Penny!”

Thanks so much to Michael Falk, Penny Freshwater and

Sandy Bustin for their contributions to this article. How
wonderful for Lily to end up in such a fantastic home
after having such a sad start in life. What a lucky girl.

I

Lily’s family portrait.