When Bucky came to us last Thursday, he was only going to be here for a few days while his previous FM was away from home.  We decided that we couldn't give him back - he is so scared and there is something about him that just pulled at my heartstrings.  In the last week, Bucky seems to be getting more comfortable here.  He still retreats to his corner or kennel whenever he is inside, but he doesn't hide his face in the corner anymore.  He reminded me of a toddler - when they cover their eyes, they think that no one can see them.  Well that was Bucky - I think that he truly believed that when his head was buried, he became invisible.  Now, he will keep his head up and look around.  For a dog as frightened and confused as he is, he is a sweet as can be and does not have an aggressive bone in his body.  Because of  ear infections, he takes 5 pills, two times a day and the only way to get them down is to pry his mouth open and put them in the back of his throat.  Not a pleasant experience, but he doesn't even flinch.  He has also been bravely tolerating short walks.  He does wonderful on a leash (he doesn't pull, because he will only walk behind you) and while he is hesitant and scared when we walk, he is beginning to sniff around a bit.  Right now, we are limiting his walks to early morning and night time - there are less people, cars and noises around to scare him.  As he becomes more used to life in a city and not a closed up barn, I am sure he will love beginning to explore.  Right now, everything is just a little too overwhelming and we don't want to stress him out too much.

Working with Bucky and providing him a loving home is so rewarding.  While progress is very slow, each day he does seem a bit happier.  Yesterday, while outside, he first showed interest in our two resident goldens and while going through the usual smelling routine, his tail actually wagged!  This was the first true sign of happiness I had seen from him.  I am confident that as he comes to realize that he is truly now going to live the good life, we will continue to see him come out of his shell.  In the meantime, it is baby steps, but I love waking each day and watching his personality slowly emerge.  We'll keep you updated on the progress of this very handsome guy.

Sorry it has been so long without an update, but progress, on a day by day basis, is slow with our little guy. A month, however, has shown lots of changes.  Today, I saw one of his biggest breakthroughs.  I am an early riser and the morning is when we see him actually wanting to play (but, he is not quite sure how).   After letting him and our two resident Goldens outside, he came in and actually jumped up on the couch by me - something he has never done before - usually he just runs back to his corner and quietly watches everything.  His tail was thumping and he had a toy in his mouth and seemed to be saying "Look at me! I am so brave!").  I was so proud of him and for the next hour he continued to get up and down and bring me different toys.  Once everyone else in the household woke up, however, he immediately reverted to his solitary ways (Not before he managed to chew up part of the paper and a library book - something he has never done before - guess we have to start watching what we leave out as he begins to get more comfortable exploring).

While still very skittish, Bucky loves to be outside and is beginning to play with our Goldens.  He still won't play with us, but he does occasionally circle around and let me touch him.  Walks are going great - his tail is no longer tucked under him when we walk and he actually seems to be slightly interested in his surroundings.  As he continues to feel more comfortable, I am sure he will want to explore more.

With all the storms we have had lately, we haven't seen any signs of anxiety from Bucky and so we didn't think he was affected by them.  Then, came last Tuesday when the thunder was so loud it seemed to shake our house.  Bucky has seemed more comfortable down in his kennel or right outside of it, so that is where he sleeps at night, but that night must have scared him a whole lot.  I woke up in the middle of the night with a dog sleeping at my feet (we love all of our dogs and pamper them, but I don't encourage them to sleep in our bed so our two never come up) and to my absolute surprise, it was Bucky.  I didn't think he even knew where our room was since he hasn't explored the house much.  Well, I changed my rules for him and he spent part of the night with us - if you knew him you'd know what an amazing thing this was.

I'll be better about updating from now on (and try to get pictures for next update) since we seem to have turned a corner and are really beginning to see his personality come out.

In the time we have been blessed with this sweet soul in our home, we have seen so much change. To those who did not know him before, he still seems so shy and scared (and he is in new situations), but he has come so far. He loves to play outside with our two goldens - he is so cute to watch, because this idea of play is so new to him. The other two will be playing and he will run up to them stop and watch (as if waiting to be invited in) and then he just pounces right in. With his tail going like crazy, he seems so incredibly happy and I just smile watching him. In addition to playing, he now seems so much more comfortable in the yard. When he first came here, he would pace the perimeter of the fence, it was almost as if it provided a sense of security to him, and really never ventured into the center of the yard. Well, now he hangs out all the time in center of the yard and yesterday, for the first time ever, even rolled around in the grass. This was huge for him. While outside, he still doesn't really let any of us get too close. He will come running to me with his tail (actually his whole body) wagging and let me reach out and touch his head, but then he runs away and circles around again. We spend lots of time each day playing this game, and occasionally, he will now let me scratch his ears and once even laid on the ground and rolled over for a tummy rub! As I have said before, progress comes slow but he is making great strides.

Inside, Bucky is so much more receptive to touch. Every morning he jumps on the couch next to me and lays his head on my lap for some ear and belly rubbing. If I stop before he is ready he'll bat at me with his paw. His seeking out touch is so new and sweet - I usually just continue until one of our resident goldens pushes him out of the way. Because he has been doing so well, we decided to schedule his neuter and get him ready to start meeting some potential forever families. Unfortunately, we received some bad news.

For the last few weeks, Bucky has had intermittent blood in his stool. His fecals came back normal and then the blood seemed to go away. Last week, we found blood again. The vet conducted a rectal exam while he was under for his neuter and found a tumor that she then removed. The mass was sent in for a biopsy and we spent the weekend praying that it would be benign - He is still so young with so many years ahead of him. It would be so cruel for him to have cancer when he is just beginning the really good part of his life.

We got the call today and unfortunately it was not the news we wanted. The mass is cancer, and as I write this with tears falling down my face, I can only hope that it is the "good" kind of cancer - if there is really such a thing - the kind that has not spread into his lymph nodes and the kind that has been totally extracted from his body. The vet stated that if it has not spread and has all been removed, he could still live a great golden life. If, however, it has spread and he does have other rectal lesions and/or masses, his time with us will be way too short. At this point, we are waiting. The vets have asked for a second opinion on the finding of "rectal adenocarcinoma with incomplete margins" (which means, I think, that it wasn't all removed). Once the second report comes back, we will most likely bring Bucky in for an ultrasound to see if the cancer has spread and also for a more thorough rectal to see if there are more masses.

The only good thing about this is that Bucky is here in RAGOM while he is going through this. The lengths they will go to save these dogs is amazing. Unfortunately, all of these tests are expensive - if you have ever considered sponsoring, I know that Bucky would be forever thankful (as would I). If you met this guy, you would fall in love just as we have - he really needs the chance to blossom and shine and enjoy life. Please keep Bucky in your prayers - we are still hoping for good news!

Bucky and I just got back from his ultrasound and the news is great!!!  There is no sign that the cancer has spread.  We will be talking to his vet tomorrow about making sure that all of the cancerous tissue is gone from his rectum, but once it is, he will be cancer free.  Yeah!!!  I wanted to thank everyone for their prayers and well-wishes.  It looks like Bucky will be able to live the long great golden life he deserves.

Hi, it's me Bucky and I am finally back home.  Last week while out on a walk, something spooked me (as many things tend to do) and I ran away.  I had no idea where I was going, I was just so scared that I had to run.  By the time I slowed down, I had no idea where I was and I was really scared.  I found a place to hide and I stayed there for the next  6 days.  My foster mom tells me that were amazing amounts of people out looking for me, but I hid too well for anyone to find me.  Finally, I was so thirsty and hungry, that I had to go find something to eat and drink.  I was scared and weak, but I knew that I had to move.  Minutes after I came out, I had people calling out my name and cars were following me all over (FM tells me that were signs all over the area and lots of people had been watching for me-little did I know that I had become somewhat of a local celebrity).  Soon I heard a voice I recognized - FM had shown up with Sammie, my best fur friend, and my human foster brother.  While a part of me knew I should go to them, I was still so scared and having been out on my own for almost a week, I began running.  In the end, I just had no more energy and there was really nowhere to run (between FM's car, a police car and a Good Samaritan's car, they had me cornered) so I got in FM's car and we went home.  I guess everyone really missed me because it has been all hugs and kisses (and I am not the biggest cuddler around) and I am thinking that all this cuddling is really not too bad.  Time for me to get back to my recuperating sleep - my energy level is still really low, I lost a lot of weight (FM says I look skeletal, whatever that means) and my paws really hurt (all that running tore up my pads) but I am now truly home and feel so safe and happy and am on the road to recovery.  I don't think I will ever take off again!

FM:  We are so happy to have Bucky back with us.  There were many restless nights, wondering where he was and worrying about him.  If anyone has lost a dog before, you know what a horrible time this is.  He is very skinny, dehydrated and his paw pads were worn and bloody, but he is home and on the road to recovery.  I wasn't sure what he would be like when we got him back-it had taken months for him to be comfortable and somewhat confident with us and I was afraid that he would revert back to the terrified guy he was when he first came to us.  I am thrilled to say that this is not the case, in fact, he is actually really wanting to cuddle.  While he can't walk very well right now because of his paws and sore muscles, he stays right by my side out in the fenced in yard and pushes against me for petting.  He never did this before and never came up to me outside and let me pet him.  Also, he takes food from our hands - this was something he had just begun doing on occasion before.  Okay, this may be because he is too weak to move to his bowl and I am sure his intense hunger has something to do with it, but it still a huge step.  Finally, as he lays on the couch sleeping (he is doing a lot of this) he will waken for a second, look around, and his tail will just start wagging, like he is thinking "I am glad I am home" and then he stretches and falls back to sleep.

There are so many people to thank for their efforts in bringing Bucky home - from area businesses who posted our flyers, to neighborhood residents who kept a vigilant eye out (and ultimately spotted him and called me), the Edina police and other surrounding city police departments, who put up with daily phone calls from me, my friends and family who helped spread the word, and finally to the amazing RAGOM volunteers who showed up at all hours of the day and night to scour the area and pass out flyers.  Bucky and our family thank you all. 

I will post another update soon and let you all know how he is doing.

Sorry it has been so long since the last update.  Bucky continues to blossom every single day - he is exploring new rooms in the house, wanders around by himself, comes into the kitchen with our two resident goldens to beg for food when dinner is being made (okay, not such a great trait, but it is so cute to see him peek his head around the kitchen door and slowly slink in and then plop himself down right next to the other two and stare and wait for something to drop).  He is still skittish around new things and people, but around us he is perfect (as he would be in any home where he is comfortable).  As much as we love seeing him more confident, we were a little dismayed about his current love of chewing - shoes, socks, my daughter's very expensive designer jeans! - basically anything he can get his mouth on.  With other fosters, we have always been so careful about keeping things out of reach, but Bucky had never shown any desire for anything but his toys.  Not sure why he has suddenly developed a hankering for these things, but we have had to do a complete round up of items on the ground (luckily, he is not a counter surfer, so we think we are safe for now). 

We received the BEST NEWS yesterday from the vet.  Bucky went in on Monday for his surgery to remove any remaining cancer cells he had in body (remember he was due for this surgery back when he was lost, so it had to be rescheduled).  The vet called and said that the pathology report came back and showed that he is cancer-free!   All he needs is a check-up twice a year to make sure it stays away from him, but other than that he will lead a long, happy life.  With that report, Bucky is now ready to meet his forever family.  He will require a very special family who is willing to be very patient with him, has a relatively quiet household, a fenced in yard (as we found out, he will run if spooked), at least one other dog for him to play with, and no small children (only because they scare him because they want to hug him and he is not really great on receiving touch from those he doesn't know).  I promise you, you will fall in love with this guy when you meet him - he is truly the sweetest dog we have ever had and is so grateful for everything he is given.   We have had many conversations on whether we should adopt Bucky ourselves (he is such a perfect fit in our family), but with two resident dogs and Bucky, we have not been able to take in any other fosters - and there are so many dogs waiting for homes!  Bucky will need to go to the perfect family for him and we are hoping it is out there.  Until then, we will continue to love him and enjoy him for as long as we are blessed to have him.