Rescued dog Bucky finds a happy place

Submitted by EARS volunteer Marcia Goodman of Cromwell, Connecticut

On Monday, March 28, I met with EARS volunteer Paula Redinger of Tucson, Arizona to learn more about how the dog we've named Bucky has been progressing at the emergency animal shelter that UAN built and is managing. Here is an excerpt from our interview.

Bucky was not interested in interacting
when he arrived at the temporary shelter.

Marcia: Tell us about Bucky when you first met him.

Paula: When I first met Bucky, he was pretty nervous, trying to hide in the back corner of his cage, and he wasn’t interested in interacting.

Marcia: What have you been doing to get him out of his shell?

Paula: Well, a little food tossed into his cage convinced him I wasn’t such a terrible person. Before I knew it, he would take a little food from my hand; now he thinks we’re not so bad.

EARS volunteer Paula Redinger
coaxes Bucky with a treat.

Marcia: Do you work with him inside his kennel or from outside?

Paula: At the very beginning, I thought that going into the cage might be too much for him to handle, so I was tossing little kibble bits into his cage. At first, I tossed them across the entire cage, and then I tossed them half-way across the cage, and then six inches from me, and then he’d take them from my hand if I didn’t look at him, and now he’ll pretty easily eat from my hand.

Marcia: How is he coming along?

Within a few days, Bucky began
interacting with the volunteers.

Paula: Well, he's only been at the shelter a few days. He’s still a little bit nervous. He doesn’t trust us completely, but he shows more interest than before. He shows some interest in interacting and some interest that perhaps I might have food.

Marcia: With your experience as a Vet Tech and in handling dogs, what do you see as his future?

Paula: I think he can find a happy place to be. He might be a little nervous around strangers. That might not go away, but I think he could find a place and be comfortable with people he knows.

We'll continue to let our blog readers know about Bucky's progress while he's in the emergency shelter.