Buck 05-071

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I picked up Buck from the shelter today. He is a very sweet 11 or 12 year old unneutered male. He is heartworm positive, has horrible teeth and needs a good bath, but is such a love. We will have an x-ray done to see if he is a good candidate for heartworm treatment.

Buck met my very reactive, overly sensitive, uptight resident male at the shelter, to see if we could even foster Buck. My male normally does not do well with unneutered males, but this introduction went well. That is a testament to Buck’s wonderful friendly disposition!

Did another intro at home, and although my dogs barked at Buck, he just stood there and wagged his tail at them. They soon stopped, as it is apparently too much bother to pick a fight with a pacifist. Buck would be a wonderful tester dog for CGC tests, as he is so trusting and friendly of the world.

I discovered that Buck is not used to a crate, as he pawed, dug and yelped in it. Because I don’t want his heart rate to speed up with all those heartworms, I will just use a baby gate and wait on any crate training. He really doesn’t need it, he is so mellow and easygoing.

Buck Buck
Buck
Rolling on his tennis ball

At a Glance #05-071

Golden Retriever Born: March 1996
Male Weight not specified

Status: Deceased

Profile

I picked up Buck from the shelter today. He is a very sweet 11 or 12 year old unneutered male. He is heartworm positive, has horrible teeth and needs a good bath, but is such a love. We will have an x-ray done to see if he is a good candidate for heartworm treatment.

Buck met my very reactive, overly sensitive, uptight resident male at the shelter, to see if we could even foster Buck. My male normally does not do well with unneutered males, but this introduction went well. That is a testament to Buck’s wonderful friendly disposition!

Did another intro at home, and although my dogs barked at Buck, he just stood there and wagged his tail at them. They soon stopped, as it is apparently too much bother to pick a fight with a pacifist. Buck would be a wonderful tester dog for CGC tests, as he is so trusting and friendly of the world.

I discovered that Buck is not used to a crate, as he pawed, dug and yelped in it. Because I don’t want his heart rate to speed up with all those heartworms, I will just use a baby gate and wait on any crate training. He really doesn’t need it, he is so mellow and easygoing.

Buck Buck
Buck
Rolling on his tennis ball

Updates

Thursday, April 14, 2005

Well, Buck has captured the hearts of everyone who has met him. If only all the adopters knew the big secret of which dogs are the most easy to have around – it is definitely the seniors. No need to worry about housetraining, loads of exercise, chewing, garbage eating or counter surfing,…just adopt a senior and all you need to do is love them and take a walk every day.

He has had his final heartworm treatment and just needs a few more weeks of rest until he can run and play ball. He will be thrilled! Buck has also been neutered, had his ears cleaned thoroughly and had all the rotten teeth removed. The vet was amazed at how happy a dog he seems to be - after seeing the ear canals and the severity of the bad teeth, she expected that he would be miserable. To watch him wag his tail and trot through the yard, no one would expect that he is feeling any pain, though. And now all his medical issues have been addressed. He is getting meds for his ears for a bit, and just needs to finish quiet weeks of recuperation and then he is in great shape.

Only 1 day after his neuter and removal of many teeth, Buck’s wonderfully playful spirit shows through again…..

Tuesday, March 29, 2005

Although Buck was wiped out for a few days after the initial heartworm treatment, he quickly regained his energy (low that it is!) and returned to wagging his tail and playing with his tennis ball. He must think I am a complete bore, or totally ignorant, as I don’t seem to be getting his very obvious requests for me to throw the ball. I roll it a few feet, he picks it up and brings it back to me, eternally hopeful that I will throw it for him. I keep telling him that he has to wait a few months to run and play. He entertains himself by laying on his back, scooping the ball out of his mouth with his front paws, dropping it back into his mouth, and over and over…..


Entertaining himself

Wednesday, March 9, 2005

The vet thought that, despite his age, he is a good candidate for treatment of the heartworms, so we started that today. He will be treated today and then again in one month. After all that, he will be neutered and have teeth removed. Despite the condition he is in, he seems happy and comfortable.

He continues to be a joy to have in our home – gets along wonderfully with our 3 dogs, gentle with all the cats, loves kids….the seniors are the best dogs out there, that’s for sure! We had some friends visit and their youngest children are 2, 3 and 4 years old. Buck walks up to them, sits down right in front of them and leans his head into their tummies for some loving.