Wayne & Buck Buckner

Wayne Buckner and his dog Buck have been buds for around 5 years now. Buckner got his dog Buck from his roommate back in Massachusetts before he moved to the Arroyo Grande area. It happened by pure coincidence that Buck inherited the full name of Buck Buckner, as Buck was the name his roommate had bestowed upon the pooch before handing him off to Wayne Buckner. 

“Buck actually kind of fell in my lap, my roommate was really busy and didn’t really have time for him so I kinda jumped in, and when our lease was up, he asked me if I wanted to keep him,” Buckner said. 

Crispy, Finn, & Laura

At the time of his interview, Crispy Boy was celebrating his second birthday at the Arroyo Grande Elm Street Dog Park! He was accompanied by his adoptive brother Finn and his owner Laura.

“I always wanted [a dog]. I had one when I was a kid and then I wanted one and somebody I knew was getting rid of [Finn], so we took him,” Laura said. “He’s… well, I love him.” 

Laura got Crispy from her sister and law, who owned Crispy’s mom and offered Crispy to her once he was born. 

“Finn, he’s just kind of weird. He’s very independent and he’s just chill, he’s really nice,” Laura said. “Crispy’s crazy.” 

Jack & Teddy

Jack and Teddy have been together for a little over three years. Teddy met Jack as a puppy, while Jack was three at the time that the two met. 

“Teddy’s very protective of Jack, he gets between any dogs that [get too close to Jack],” Teddy & Jack’s owner said. 

Jack comes from Grover Beach, from a family that was looking to rehome him, and thankfully Jack’s owner was looking for a dachshund, so everything worked out. Similarly, Teddy was also taken in because his owner was looking for a small dog.

“I got Teddy over in Central Valley, I was looking for a small dog at the time but all the rescues [in the area] had German Shepherds and big dogs,” Teddy’s owner said. 

The wild nature of big dogs was not on Jack and Teddy’s owner’s agenda. However, as life would have it, Jack and Teddy’s owner would not be able to escape the wildness of big dogs.

“Jack was over at another park [around three months ago] and there were a lot of big dogs running around and he was on the periphery and one of the dogs accidentally got too close to his side and he went tumbling,” Jack’s owner said. 

Right after this event, Jack had problems climbing up and down the ramps in his home which helped him climb furniture, and three weeks later he was unable to walk. 

“I had two decisions, either put him down or do surgery and I just wasn’t ready to let him go because he’s such a sweetheart,” Jack’s owner said. 

Jack is a loving dog that loves to always be near his owner. However, Jack can also prove to be quite stubborn. 

“He’s a real love bug, but it took us a long time to get him training to go through the doggie door and if he sees a person go by on a skateboard or a big dog go by [at the dog park], he’ll be over at that fence,” Jack’s owner said.