Oakesdale’s sick stray dog finds a home for the holidays

The dog was sleeping in a wet culvert every night, scrounging food scraps around Oakesdale and suffering from an ear infection.

Pete and Margaret Leonard, proprietors of Oakesdale’s The Country Attic, diligently put out food for the hungry stray for most of this year, even though the dog wouldn’t let the two near him.

Then winter hit. Pete took one look at the snow pounding in over the Palouse and put his foot down.

“We knew he wouldn’t make it another winter out there on his own,” Leonard told the Gazette in an interview Dec. 10.

Leonard drove around town until he found “Buck” hanging out at the town recycling center. He gave him a treat and snapped a collar around his thin neck.

“I opened the pickup door and he jumped in there as if he’d done it a million times,” Leonard said.

For the past month, they have nursed their young stray back to health. Years of living on the street had left him thin and sick.

Instead of the dirty culvert, Buck now sleeps on a giant tuffet at the end of the Leonards’ bed in Rosalia. Instead of garbage scraps, he can eat as much dry dog food as he wants all day long. And he gets a plate of dog cookies every night.

“He’s pretty spoiled,” Pete said with a laugh.

Buck has his own collar and is licensed with the town of Oakesdale. He wakes up each day with the Leonards’ two other dogs. Most days, he commutes with Pete to the shop in Oakesdale where he sleeps by the stove.

“He’s a very, very, very good dog,” Margaret adds.

A trip to the vet revealed a deep ear infection. The dog was also losing hair on his stomach and rib cage.

They gave him antibiotics which quickly cleared up the dog’s health problems. He was a different color once they gave him a bath too. The grime of the outdoors gave way to shinier, lighter fur.

Margaret said the dog’s temperament has changed as well. When he was on the street, he was shy and almost depressed, she said. Today, he is more outgoing, has more energy and is willing to play with their two other dogs.

“I try not to think about what his life was like before this because he must have been so desperately lonely,” Margaret said. She thinks he is healthier in part because he now “belongs” to somebody, versus being on his own.

The vet estimated his age at less than five years and believes he is an Australian shepherd/blue heeler mix.

City clerk Mary DeGon said the dog was notorious for being impossible to catch. Residents around the town had been putting out scraps. However, no one could help him because no one could catch him.

“I don’t know how he did it, but Pete got the dog to come to him,” DeGon said.

“I can’t believe the difference in the dog. He looks so healthy. His eyes were very droopy and his coat wasn’t very good because he was just finding shelter where he could,” DeGon said.