The Big Hairy Beast

We've been calling Buck the Big Hairy Beast around here.  This is Buck when I first picked him up.  He's a good looking dog but he's dirty and his coats is a mess.  Personally, I'm able to overlook that sort of thing, it's entirely superficial. 

He's an Animal Connections dog and that group pays for grooming of most of its little dogs because small dog people are like that.  In the summer, I would have hosed him off, shampooed him with Dawn, and combed him out with the rake that I use on my shepherds.  However, this time of year it is just too cold to do that outside, so he went to a groomer today for a makeover. 

I wanted him cleaned up, combed, and trimmed just enough to tidy him up.  Amazingly, that's just what they did. 

I picked him up this afternoon and also had a vet aspirate a few lumps.  They were just fatty tissue, nothing to be concerned about, but with Tasha going in for surgery tomorrow, I felt better having them checked and I can tell a potential adopter that they've been looked at already.

The groomer did a great job, just what I asked for and nothing more.  Buck's coat is soft and silky, he's clean and smells good.  He's upstairs in a crate this evening between Trooper and Tasha, staying clean. 

Clay dropped him off this morning and said that he rode nicely in the car on the way in.  The vet's office reported that he was good for the grooming, everything except the nail trim.  He's good with other dogs, and even met a cat when he was in there and paid no attention, even when the cat ran.  I brought him home and he came inside and ran upstairs like he had done it all his life.  He even went into his crate without a fight.  All the signs continue to indicate that this has been a household dog and a good family pet.

I'm taking him to Gainesville on Sunday to a VGSR adoption event.  He should get some looks and is the perfect alternative for a lot of people who think they want a shepherd but don't really know what that means.  Buck is all the dog without all the behavior problems that so many shepherds have.