Most people have heard the old saying "one
man's trash is another man's treasure". Our Vincent is living proof that sometimes this adage is accurate. Vincent showed
up in our yard after he had been dumped by his previous owner. He looked extremely thin and when I put my hands on his body
I couldn't believe how thin he actually was. Skin and bones and hair, that's all there was to him. He was leery of me
at first and I of him. I started feeding him but he was in such terrible physical condition and also so depressed
that I was afraid that he wouldn't survive. A trip to the vet found that he did not have heartworms or lymes disease
and other than being nearly starved to death and covered in ticks he didn't appear to have any other health issues. He
weighed in at 94 lbs. which may sound like alot but not for a fully mature male Saint Bernard. Five weeks later Vincent
went back to the vet for a rabies shot and check up. The vet was happily surprized at the changes in Vincent since
he hadn't believed that the dog would live after his first visit. Vincent had gained 25 lbs. and had a whole new outlook on
life. Isn't it amazing what a difference good food and love can make. What makes me sad about Vincent's story is that
at one time someone loved and cared for him, taught him to sit, come when called and shake hands, crate trained him, played
with him and gave him rawhides (we discovered he loves these), housed and kept him for several years then for whatever reason
they saw fit to starve him and when he was near death they drove out in the country and threw him away like yesterday's newspaper.
Luckily for Vincent his story has a happy ending with a new loving home and good care but more likely in his situation a dog
would suffer a cruel end to his life by starvation, attack by other animals or be killed by people who did not want him on
their property. Following are pictures of Vincent upon his arrival at our house. We will add more pictures and updates on
Vincent as time goes by.
Update June 2012: Since Vincent has shown up on our doorstep he has gained over
50 lbs. (yes, thats five zero, fifty pounds!) He
survived a rattlesnake bite and a neuter. Today he is healthy, happy, spoiled and a much
loved member of our family. We wanted to take him to obedience classes so that he could earn titles but Vincent prefers to
be a home body. He has learned to be very tolerant of all our other pets, even having a Chihuahua puppy jumping in his face.
