Last Hope Stories Of Hope- Bucky Update

Last Hope Stories Of Hope

News Flash!! A Bucky Update

Remember our feature story about Bucky the hyperactive Golden Lab mix puppy who found a new career as a Drug Sniffing Dog? This is an update from his handler:

Hi, I hope you remember me. My new name is "Buck". You may remember me as "Bucky". Last Hope had taken care of me for a short time before someone picked me for some sort of training. They taught me how to "seek dope". When I find "Dope" they give me a toy. This is pretty fun. I spent several weeks training before being assigned a handler. I met my handler and she happens to be blonde like me. My handlers name is Sandy Kennedy. She's an Investigator with the Minnesota Gang Task Force. When we first started training together I had to show her where the "Dope" was and she gave me a toy. We trained for a couple weeks together before we had to take a test. After 12 weeks in school, Sandy and I took our test on May 10th, 2006 and I became a Certified Narcotics Detector. I went before a big crowd, ran an obstacle course and did a demonstration. I think they loved me.

I'm the first Drug Dog for the Minnesota Gang Task Force.

In June I found almost 5 pounds of "meth" hidden in the driving shaft of a vehicle. They must of thought it was pretty neat "cause I just got a Citation (Commendation) for finding it.

I was working one night and we ran into a group of gang members. The gang member asked if I worked for the gang strike force. Sandy told them I worked for them. The gang members thought I could sniff out gang members. I don't think they're too smart.

I just wanted to thank you everyone at Last Hope for taking care of me.

Bucky, Just a Stray!

On a cold rainy February Friday afternoon, a dog appeared at my house. He was cold, wet, and full of mud. The dog was a yellow lab mix with no collar or tags. He was invited into my porch where he happily came in without hesitation. He was so happy to have human contact. I cleaned him up with a warm bath and gave him a bowl of food and water. He ate like he had not eaten in days.

I called Animal Control to see if a report of a lost dog had been reported. A police officer arrived and took him into "custody" and transported him to the “pound”. After 1 week waiting period had passed, I had instructions for the pound call me if he went unclaimed, and that call came. When he arrived at my house he was so happy and hyper, he was jumping like a rodeo bronco bucking horse so I called him Bucky.

Bucky was brought into Last Hope to Southview Animal Clinic for the vet check and shots. After being neutered, Bucky's health took a dramatic turn for the worse. He apparently reacted to the anesthesia. He vomited, aspirated, and had pneumonia set in. Bucky became weaker as time passed on and no one knew why, and for a time it was close if he would make it. An exploratory surgery didn't reveal the cause of his weakness. After the antibiotics had a chance to work Bucky regained his strength.

Bucky was spotted on our organizations web site after initial contact info from Angela was passed on to me. I called the police officer. The officer has worked with canines for years at the Airport Police Department. He called asking if Bucky was still available. I gave all the particulars on Bucky thinking that he was so full of energy how could he possibly work as a canine drug dog. Bucky was very hyper, loved to play ball for hours, and obnoxious in behavior. He also was a submissive pee-er (when a dog meets a person they tinkle) and wasn’t housebroken. He even peed sometimes in his crate! He also jumps 4 foot chain link fences. How would any one want him?

Those traits were not a problem for the Airport Police as they were looking for a 35-45 lb dog to replace another drug sniffing dog that was growing older and was to be retired from drug service. They wanted a high-energy dog that wouldn't get bored and look for other things to do instead of sniffing for drugs. I took Bucky to the airport to meet the officer. A leading national police drug dog expert had just arrived from Phoenix, Arizona to look at Bucky since she was holding over for another flight to another city. The officer was excited that she was interested in Bucky and would give an evaluation. Police canine officers consider her the foremost "guru" on police drug dogs.

The officer and the expert took Bucky for a stroll through the airport where he began to finding toys hidden along the way almost immediately. He jumped over baggage and jumped up on the baggage carousels wagging his tail in excitement. It was like he had found his true calling. The expert rated him highly but he still needed a fair amount of work and training to make it. After a few days of transporting him back and forth for department testing, this Wednesday the officer called me to let me know Bucky had made the cut!

Bucky had made the transition from play toys to finding actual marijuana hidden in baggage for training! This usually takes a period of 1-2 weeks to transition and train. Bucky did it in 10 minutes and had it down pat in 20 minutes, much to the enjoyment of the officer. He said Bucky is working out beyond his expectations. Bucky will complete about 12 weeks training and be "sworn in" after graduating from his training.

The next time you see a hyper happy-go-lucky yellow lab mix at the airport you can see what Last-Hope, Inc. represents: A chance for a scared and lost stray to show that he was not forgotten and that every dog has a value.

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