For Buck, Love, Melissa Johnson

Buck wandered into the yard of a grain elevator near a small town in South Dakota about 6 weeks ago.  He was starving, very thirsty and didn't look like he was going to make it.  The good people at the grain elevator gave him food and water and let him sleep in their office for 2 weeks.  They could tell that old Buck needed more help than they could give him and they called RAGOM for that help.  At his vet checkup it was found that he is about 10 years old,  has 2 bad teeth that need to be pulled, arthritis in his front right elbow and rear hips, is deaf, is 10 to 15 pounds under weight and has massive muscle loss.  The good news was that he doesn't have heart worm and all of his blood work came back just fine.

I picked Buck up from South Dakota 3 weeks ago and have been working with him to get him healthy again.  Buckaroo is a very sweet older gentleman.  He loves pets and brushes.  He gets along just fine with other dogs and seems to have just a passing interest in my neighbors cats.  Buck does not have guarding issues with food and no storm anxieties.  He is going to the vets tomorrow to have his teeth pulled and get neutered.  I am really hopeful after his bad teeth are out that he will show more interested in food and will pick up some more weight.  Right now he can only eat soft food.  He prefers scrambled eggs to canned dog food!  Buck sleeps a lot because he is on 2 types of pain medication, 1 for his teeth and 1 for the arthritis.  He likes short walks and will lope given the chance.  He picks up well on hand signals and knows when you want him to follow you.  We have been taking him for 4 to 5 short walks a day trying to build up his muscles again.

Buck somehow lost his family and really needs the love of a new one.  On a walk the other day there was an older man walking with a very young girl about a block ahead of us.  Buck pulled and wanted to get to them in the worst way.  It was like he thought he recognized them and wanted to be reunited with them.  Because of his arthritis I believe a non kid home would be best. Buck would be great for someone looking for a companion.  He would love to just be with someone and get pets.