“A Tribute to the Teacher”
Destiny comes in many forms. In our case it came in
the form of a “Big White Dog”. At that time we had our
second Bull Terrier “Darby” and we were invited to join
the local club by Dianne Wise. We had shown Darby
with some success and decided that we would get to
know some of the folks we had meet at the shows. We
first saw “Buck” in a kennel run after one of the club
meetings. We had two dogs at the time, and with Darby,
and “Tawny”, we were not looking to add more, however
hearing the stories of Buck’s misadventures, and early
history we decided to get him and see what we could do
to help. After getting him home and evaluating him, we
only knew he was underweight. It was not until a day, or
two later we realized we were in trouble. Buck was
crazy! He barked all the time for no reason. He did not
seem to be comfortable unless on a walk, or riding in the
car. He would stare out or sliding glass doors and
charge at it if he saw a bird or squirrel. Our vet at the
time could not find anything physically wrong with him
however nothing changed. He decided to medicate him
as he deemed his problems to be “Mental”. The amount
of medication required to keep Buck calm turned him
into a “Zombie”. We knew this was not the answer and
we continued to look for a solution. We had met Tom,
and Glenna Wright at Silverwood in St. Louis and called
on them for help. One of their suggestions was to try
another Vet and they recommended Dr. Jane Boston
whom Tom knew and who remains our Veterinarian to
this day. Dr. Boston had us change his diet, his
medication, and we continued to work with him
everyday. He came to love Tawny, the cats, and
became the dog that everyone asked about. He was
unlike our other Bull Terriers in that he did not play with
toys, did very few “bully runs”; instead he seemed
happiest when around people, and chewing on a bone.
Food was his favorite thing of all and thus “Chef Buck”
was born.
Always found in the kitchen at food preparation
time, nothing was served unless the Chef gave his
approval. After a few great years during which he
was completely weaned of any medication the world
met Buck at our club hosted Silverwood in Orlando.
We reluctantly put him in the “Parade of Rescue”.
We never felt we rescued him, more like an
adoption of sorts. We felt he deserved a moment of
stardom and applause. The master of begging
Buck hammed it up with his famous twenty second
beg for a treat. By then our dog count had
increased to include “Orna”, and the rest has
become our little journey with these dogs. Buck’s
health started a decline about a year ago and his
Diabetes eventually took his eyesight. Blind for the
last eight months of his life, he still continued to be
the always out housedog, and bed hog. The last
most people saw of Buck was Silverwood 2001 in
Pittsburgh. My favorite memory of that trip was our
overnight stay in the cool mountains of West
Virginia where he just loved the cool air and thick
green grass. He had his famous “Bully
Jounce/Strut” going and he just wanted to run and
run. I will miss him “Power tanning” in the sunny
spot in the back yard, and greeting me at night to
get his belly rubbed. Ten years is too short a time
to live, and we only had him for six of those years.
Buck’s influence over us can be seen today in the
“big” Auburn dogs whose temperaments we receive
most of our praises for. My last wish of Buck is that
he be the one holding Heaven’s door open for me.
“Rest in Peace” my friend and Thank-You for the
education!
Skip Greaney