It’s not often one gets to cure Booda

Without radiation therapy, Booda would very likely not be here to bark about it. Liz and Frank Wallace’s six-pack of wiener dogs would’ve been down to five.

In 2019, Booda, a 12-year-old dachshund, was diagnosed with a brain tumor. If left untreated, it could have caused neurological problems eventually leading to death.

So, when Liz’s neurologist at the VCA Clackamas Animal Hospital in Clackamas, Ore., recommended Washington State University’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital, she and Booda jumped in the car, only stopping for gas. Six hours later they made it.

“I remember they said ‘yes, we can help her.’ They started providing radiation therapy the next Monday,” Liz said.

For the next month during each visit, the Wallace couple and their six-pack camped in their motorhome throughout the Palouse. At radiation treatment number 18, Booda’s treatment ended and, besides check-ups, so did the camping trips.

“I am so glad beyond measure that the specialist recommended WSU,” Liz said. “If it hadn’t been for WSU and their care, our dog would be long gone right now.”

The six-pack of weenies, also known as BRAFLO—Booda, Ruger, Annie, Frankie, Lucy and Olivia—now has had one more year as a six-pack that they may not have had before.

Booda had a recheck in August, and since completing radiation therapy, her tumor has continued to diminish in size.

Although she has been diagnosed with Cushing’s disease since her treatment, the couple is managing it.

“WSU’s Dr. Caroline Hohlman has been the greatest thing. We still have contact with her and she’s always responding to her email,” Liz said. “When people become so turned inward, a lot of the common courtesies are forgotten nowadays. We are always treated with the utmost respect and courtesy, and our dogs are as well.”

You can help animals like Booda and give hope to those who love their animals when you support cancer care at the WSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital.