Buck

Driving home around 8:30 last night, I passed my neighbor's house and saw her dog lying very still in her side yard.  This is very unusual, as the dog is generally pretty active, and if he's lose, he's often at my house, waiting for Wolfey to come out and play.  I slowed way down and he didn't react.  Also weird.  I got Wolfey and walked over to my neighbor's house to see if Buck was okay.  As Wolfey and I approached, Buck didn't respond and I became even more worried.  Wolfey walked up and checked Buck out, but Buck remained still.  He was breathing, but that was it.  I knocked hard on my neighbor's door but there was no answer; it was then that I noticed two notes on the door, both saying that the writer had found Buck in the woods and he wasn't doing well.  One of those people must have brought him home and tied him up to be sure our neighbor found him.  I walked down to another neighbor's house (let's call him Alex) and asked if he knew how to get ahold of Buck's person.  Alex walked back to Buck's home with me, checked the dog out and said he would call the landlord, as they would be certain to have a way to get ahold of our neighbor.  In the mean time, I walked next door to ask if anyone over there knew how to get ahold of Buck's person; they didn't.  We were standing between the two yards talking about the dog when Alex drove up in his truck.  He had called the landlord but no one was answering so he decided to drive out there.  I asked Alex to let me know if he found anything out and headed home.  I felt awful, but there was nothing more I could do, so I threw together a quick dinner and spent some time loving on Wolfey, hoping we're never in that situation.  I left my front lights on until 10:30 last night, hoping Alex would stop by and tell me Buck's person had come home and rushed him to the vet but never heard back.  When I left for work this morning I drove past that house very slowly but there were no signs of life.  No neighbor, no Buck.  I hate to think what that means, but at least I know that I am lucky to have neighbors who care, and who will do everything they can to reunite a person with their sick pup.

UPDATE 5/15/12: I still hadn't heard anything, so I stopped by Alex's work this morning.  He said Buck died the next day, reportedly just from old age.  I'm so sad Wolfey lost a friend and my neighbor lost a companion, but I hope Buck is more comfortable in puppy heaven.