Ranger

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I am heartbroken to tell you that we had to have Ranger put down two days ago. I am absolutely bereft without him under my feet, in my bed, and everywhere else I went.

He developed a number of problems, including a wasting disease that was likely intestinal tract lining cancer. He lost bowel control, then was so ashamed when he had accidents...

He was the best dog I have ever had the joy to know. He taught us SO much about healing, forgiveness, faith, trust and love. I will always begrateful to him!

I just wanted you to know that he is gone from this earth now, but lives in our hearts, where he will be kept comfy and cozy and "snuggled up" forever.

Ranger's sad beginning

Ranger was rescued from a grow-op, where he was penned in a small enclosure with concrete floor, visited only once a day to be fed, and then hit when he got excited and jumped up to see his human once a day.

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Ranger's rescue

The SPCA could do nothing for Ranger, in spite of repeated phone calls, because in fact Ranger did have food, water, and shelter. But there was something that someone else could do – and she did it.

 

Ranger's happy ending                 Click photos to enlarge

Animal Advocates brought him to my daughter and me for fostering, until he healed and could find a forever home. Of course, within a couple of weeks we knew we couldn't let him go...

... Fast forward more than 5 years. Ranger is a happy, calm, confident, playful, affectionate big boy. He is finally starting to realize he is an adult, not a puppy. He seemed to go through all the developmental phases from young puppyhood through to adulthood after we got him at age 2.5(ish), and spent a few years reclaiming his lost puppyhood.

He is the most loving, affectionate dog ever! Everybody remarks on how good looking he is (he is VERY handsome!), how well-behaved, how gentle, how sweet, and how loving he is, even with brand new acquaintances. I can let anyone into the house without any problem at all. Yet, if I am keeping someone out, he is right beside me, protecting. 

We have horses now which he respects but is not frightened of.

He has been nose to nose with our gentle giant, and they seem to like each other quite a bit! He knows when I am leading a horse that he must follow close behind, so he stays right beside me, or well back behind us. He does not chase, run or bark around the horses. He has learned his equine-friendly manners very well!

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He also loves children. When they first meet him, if they seem timid I always tell them that Ranger won't hurt them, but if they look away for too long he might just give them a big, wet, slurp on the face, his way of giving a kiss! They laugh, relax, and pat him, and before you know it, the slurp happens, which sends them into giggles and "ewww" and more patting.

Ranger especially loves girls, particularly teenage girls, and he flirts outrageously with them! They all fall for him, and before you know it he has them parked on the couch beside him, with his head in their laps, patting him. If they absentmindedly stop patting, he helpfully reminds them by placing his nose conveniently under their hand, and then nudging upwards until their hand slides across his head and down his neck. Nearly every time, they resume petting him without being aware. If Ranger could wink, I know he would do so at those moments!

For the last couple of years especially, he has been a "barn dog," loving his time with us at the barn, hanging out with 30 horses, dozens of other dogs, a cat (okay, that was a love/hate relationship at times,) and all the pretty girls he could feast his eyes on! He was a flirt from day one.

I love reading Animal Advocates’ rescue/adoption success stories, because I know every one of them is a story like Ranger's. I am amazed, every single time, at dogs' capacity to forgive, and to trust again. I still marvel that Ranger trusted me so completely, and held no grudge against humans.

Thank you Animal Advocates for bringing him into our lives.

 

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