That cool canine Boston

I did a column last week on Boston, a Golden Retriever/Labrador mix which has been such a godsend as a "seizure alert" dog for Karon Silva, 7, who has epilepsy. Karon received Boston as a puppy for a birthday present 3 1/2 years ago. No one knew at the time just how much of a gift Boston would become.

Over the weekend, I got an e-mail from the previous owner, Alyssa Renteria: "I am so glad to hear that Boston is such a smart dog. Me and my fiancée sold Boston to them around Christmas more 3 years ago. It was him and his full brother Dodger that we were selling at the time for $250 a piece.

"We got the call from Elizabeth Silva asking how much we were asking for the dog, and she told us that was too much and in the tone of her voice I could tell that she was really interested. I asked her how much she would be willing to pay and she told me what he was going to be used for and I told her that we would take $50 and we would take him right then and there.

"I never thought my dog would be able to connect with anybody else but me, but as soon as we walked in you could tell that there was a connection like no other that Karon and Boston had. I can still remember that night so perfectly.

"We even still have the pictures on our camera from the moment right before we took him. He was a special dog who even had even overcome being sick from Parvo. From the day we picked him up from the vet after staying 5 days from treatments, I knew he had something special. I love that he is taking care of her so well and saving her life."