Welcome to 'Ranger The Bodacious Beach Dog'. Ranger (AKA Ranger Marley Wrecking-Ball Surf-Dog Doofus) is the quintessential dude. When he's not on duty he likes to play, eat, and chill. His hobbies are body surfing, chasing seagulls, stealing other dog's tennis balls at the beach, stealing children's toys at the beach, stealing food at picnics and peeing on surfer's backpacks, shoes ect... You've probably gathered by now that Ranger is a bit of an anarchist. He never fails to entertain the people around him and always seems to light up the room wherever he goes. The world is a better place for having his playful antics and loving mannerisms. This book is a collection of photos taken of this incredibly lovable goofball while playing at the beach.
A little back story on Ranger. A few years ago I had lost my last Golden Retriever (Flynn) who'd
been my service dog for years. I was devastated and had never cried so much in my life. When I got out of the hospital my wife and sister were there. When I got into the back of the car I was greeted by Ranger. He was instantly in my lap and it was love at first sight. We've been best friends and have
been inseparable ever since. Ranger loves to be loved and he will do anything to please his people.
He learned all the skills of a service dog so easily. Generally speaking, he's a perfect gentleman while he's on duty. However, he still has to entertain. Thus the phrase "He might be naughty but he's a good boy." His exuberance and love for life are truly amazing and inspiring.
Ranger has had some tumultuous times. It was apparent as soon as we got him home that he'd been traumatized in some way. He was scared of strangers and would always back away. Anybody that knows Golden Retrievers knows this is extremely unusual. He was so scared to be in a new place that he wouldn't eat. My wife claims she's not dog person but was scrambling him a couple eggs every day to get him to eat. He wouldn't go outside to do his business unless I was with him. If I came in he would get scared and run right back in with me. He would later become comfortable enough to do a
little exploring and go outside by himself after he was sure he wasn't going to be abandoned.
One of the things that I noticed right after we got Ranger home was that his gait was a little off. After having some x-rays done it was confirmed that he had hip dysplasia. We started him on glucosamine,
chrondroitin and a couple omega acids and he was doing great for a couple years. Then he started to slow down and wasn't as playful anymore. He also started having trouble getting up from the floor. The surgeon told us Ranger needed a Total Hip Replacement on the right side. He had dysplasia on the left side as well, but it wasn't as bad. The surgery, followup visits and travel expenses ended up costing about $11,000. Within six months Ranger was a puppy again. Luckily we had some help from friends (both emotional and financial). There's no words that express my gratitude to these amazing people. Thank you all so very much. More recently Ranger has began to slow down again. He seems to be favoring the right hip. We're pretty sure that he will need surgery on the left hip some time in the near future. Having said this, every time a copy of this book is sold the profits are going to be set aside to help Ranger. If you know anybody that loves dogs (especially Golden Retrievers) Please tell them about this book.
This book is also in loving memory of Flynn.
Ranger has his own book (Ranger the Bodacious Beach Dog) available on Amazon at:
