Buck Branson ~ Nov 1999 - Oct 25, 2007

With great sadness and heavy hearts, we had to put our beloved "Buck" to sleep yesterday evening. After several months of dealing with what we believed to be bouts of constipation, Rog took Buck into the vet's yesterday and it was discovered that he had a hernia in his bowel area and a large tumor that was believed to be cancerous. We were told that the only way to know for sure was to operate and even after doing so, there were no guarantees that he would live. As much as we loved our "Buckster," we simply don't have the discretionary funds for this procedure, especially since the outcome was so "iffy." We chose to have Buck cremated and will be keeping his ashes until Rog and I decide what to do with them. We also clipped some of his fur to keep as a momento.

Buck on Oct 16, 2007

Now that he is gone, I can share openly that Buck was half wolf and half malamute. In 2002, Alaska declared it ilegal to own or sell wolf-hybrids; anyone owning a such an animal before 2002 had to get a permit and a microchip imbedded in the skin for identification purposes. Rog got Buck as a puppy in early 2000, but we never got the permit, nor did we have him micro-chipped or neutered (also required by law). Therefore, had it been discovered that Buck was part wolf, he would've been destroyed by the authorities and we would've been fined.

Cully and Buck, saying Hi ~ Oct 23, 2007

Contrary to many "horror stories" that exist about wolf-hybrids, our Buck was a sweet-natured, friendly dog. He was protective of his territory and his family, but also quite welcoming to the meter-readers, septic cleaners and such. And he did his best to keep our property moose- bear- and porcupine-free - twice, getting a muzzle-full of quills in the process!

Unfortunately, none of us took the time to properly train Buck when he was young and, consequently, he could not be let into our home, as he would jump on everything (and everyone), knock things over, pull things down off of counters, etc and pee everywhere. The few times we did let him in to hang out with the family only lasted about 15 minutes, tops. When the temps outside were too cold for Buck, we would put him in our heated garage - but unless he was tethered, he would again, knock things over, pull things down off of counter tops (my DH's workshop is the garage) and "do his business" everywhere.

Still, he was a lovable dog and I truly regret not making more of an effort to have him trained well enough to be involved in our family the way our little dog, Cully, is.

I have a lot more photos of Buck over the years that I would like to post here now, but it will take some time to locate them (some are in digital files and others are actual photos from my "pre-digital' stage). Once those pics are found, I'll post them in another blog entry.

-- kimB