So how did a Buenos Aires stray mutt named Gaucho come a Pacific Palisades resident? The answer, in short, is a Palisadian: Dr. Geoff Vernon, an ambulatory equine practitioner who travels with the United States Equestrian Team, a show jumping team. Originally from Toronto, the Canadian horse doctor tells the Palisadian-Post that there are only about ‘eight to 10 veterinarians in the world who do what I do at that level.’ Vernon accompanies the U.S. team to the Olympics, Pan Am Games, and World Equestrian Games, and various events in-between. In the sphere of animal sports medicine, Vernon described himself as ‘analogous to the team physician for the Green Bay Packers. I make sure the horses stay sound, their performance is optimized.’ As ‘a lot of the elite show jumping riders are in the U.S.,’ Vernon relocated four years ago to the Palisades, where his girlfriend, Gennifer Gardiner, lives. Gardiner is the daughter of filmmaker Chuck Workman, recently profiled in the Post (see ‘Friends of Film Screens Local Filmmaker’s ‘In Search of Kennedy,” September 25). When the U.S. team went to Argentina to compete in late November, Vernon arrived in Buenos Aires early before the opposing teams (primarily South American), and ahead of his own team’s horses, which were being flown in from Miami. ‘We try to get to the events earlier than necessary,’ Vernon says. ‘Before the competition, we arrived on a Sunday, so on a Monday, I had nothing to do.’ So he went jogging. While doing his morning exercise, Vernon spotted a ‘white object’ in a ditch. He kept going, but did the proverbial double take, backtracking to the spot. ‘He was very small,’ Vernon recalled, regarding the puppy. ‘He must have been a couple months old. I thought he was hit by a car. I watched him breath, his eyes were closed. I called him and he looked up and flopped his head back down. I was wary of picking him up because I didn’t know the rabies status in Argentina.’ Despite his veterinary expertise, Vernon was at a loss as to what course of action to take. ‘I don’t do dogs, I just do horses,’ he said. ‘I picked him up and brought him back to my hotel room, and put him in a bathtub right away. I had never seen more ticks and fleas, and what I thought was oil on his tail was really dry, crusted blood.’ The mutt slept for 12 hours. By morning, ‘I got him some breakfast from the breakfast buffet,’ Vernon said. ‘He was very gangly, his tail looked like a straw.’ Of course, Vernon had to work, but ‘the dog never left my side ever. I never had to train it. ‘During the big day of competition, he stayed at the barn and waited for me to come back,’ Vernon continued. ‘The horse show secretary gave him a VIP necklace [to differentiate him from feral dogs] so he could walk around [the venue].’ Vernon asked the young female riders on his team to name the dog. ‘I thought they’d name it, fall in love with it, and it will be their problem,’ he said. ‘The girls were too smart for me. None of them would name it.’ Vernon ended up brainstorming Gaucho’s moniker. Then came a big decision to make. ‘He called me and said, ‘I have a problem,” girlfriend Gardiner recalled. ”I found this dog, he’s half-dead, and I don’t know what to do.” So Gardiner hopped onto the Internet: ‘I started researching online how to bring a dog in from another country. ‘Gennifer was instrumental in bringing the dog to the United States,’ Vernon said. Getting Gaucho into America was a story in itself. The dog required a health inspection and a rabies shot from a Argentine veterinarian, which was not a problem, as there were many veterinarians at the horse show since feral dogs have been known to wander onto the tournament site. The horse show secretary informed Vernon that he needed a certificate of health from the Department of Agriculture, and she made some phone calls on Gaucho’s behalf. Since he was flying from Buenos Aires to Mexico City en route to Los Angeles, Vernon needed a health certificate just to get Gaucho into Mexico. Cutting it very close to his time of departure, Vernon literally had to get Gaucho’s paperwork relayed to him at a gas station located en route to the airport. The documents enabled Mexicana Airlines to accept the dog. Upon entry into the United States, the paperwork, along with forms that Gardiner had prepared on the U.S. side, became Gaucho’s passport into America. By Tuesday morning, Vernon checked Gaucho into the Pacific Palisades Veterinary Clinic on Via de la Paz, where the mutt was examined and vaccinated. Once at Gardiner’s Palisades home, Gaucho was greeted by new friends: Gardiner’s children, Damian, 9, and Kyra, 14; and a 16-year-old Jack Russell, Murphy. ‘He was malnourished and extremely thin,’ Gardiner said, initially worrying how Gaucho would interact with Murphy. All for naught. ‘He seems to have revived Murphy a bit.’ ‘Murphy and Gaucho get along great,’ Vernon reported, ‘Except they fight over dinner. Gaucho still eats like a stray dog and hogs all the food.’ Today, Gaucho lives like a Palisades celebrity, indulging in VIP care from the couple’s dog-walker, Connie Babin, and trainer, Julie Sterling. ‘I’ve thanked Geoff for bringing him into our lives,’ Gardiner said. ‘Gaucho is incredibly sweet and super-smart. He’s already house-broken, he doesn’t chew, and he loves his home.’ So does Gaucho have a favorite food? Says Gardiner, laughing, ‘The dog eats anything.’ And yet, the Argentine mutt has not forgotten the peripatetic vet who rescued him from a certain death, named him, and found him a home. ‘Gaucho’s very excited when he sees me,’ Vernon said.
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