A Dogs Life

MY DOG

I've always loved dogs. They are great companions for people. They seem to know your moods and emotions and respond to them in just the right way. They are fun to play with and just to have at your side. They have personalities of their own and can become true members of the family. They are natural companions to people. Imagine if back in the stone age, Man had domesticated the bear instead of a dog. :-)

BUDDY

Buddy is the newest member of the family. He's small, about 30 pounds, and about a year and a half old. I got him from the Pulaski County Humane Society. He's just the nicest little guy. I'll admit that he was the second choice. The first just didn't work out.

I have been looking at the Pulaski County Humane Society website for a while now. I've been hoping I'd see a dog that looked right for me. Call it window shopping.

I finally sent them an email describing my situation, my home, my wants, my requirements, etc. I went into detail about what I expected from the dog and what types I was agreeable with and what types I was not. I mentioned several dogs from the website, asking which of them sounded like they would fit the mold I had set, and of course, mentioning which ones I'd like to have if they met my criteria.

At first, I picked out Samson, a seven month old Saint Bernard, and everyone agreed that he sounded like a perfect match. He really was a sweet dog and became very attached to me in the two days I had him. That was the problem. He attached himself to me so much that he wouldn't let my mother come around. Honestly, he'd growl with such a deep rumble at her that she was terrified. How can someone be scared of a seven month old puppy? Pretty easy when it's also 75 pounds and growling.

Mom and I went back to the shelter in separate vehicles because Samson was going back and wouldn't let her in the car with me. But we got to pick out a different dog together. There were over a hundred to choose from, from puppy age to ten years old. I had already seen some other dogs on the website that I was interested in and were smaller, which seemed to fit Mom's criteria better. From those, we chose Buddy.

Buddy is the ideal companion dog. Small and gentle, and already fully grown. He just loves Mom and she's very taken with him also. He reminds us both of a little white dog that I had when I was in grade school. He's an outside dog only. We won't be bringing him in. But he's got the whole backyard to deal with, and for a dog of his size, that's plenty of room.

He's got plenty of energy and is still a bit of a puppy, tho he's a year and a half old. He's in perfect health with no fleas or heartworm at all. He rarely barks, and when he does, it's not bothersome. Not a yap, but not a deep throated blast either. He's accepted that he's an outside dog now, and isn't trying to get in the house any more. That's something he learned very quick.

If you took a German Shepherd, painted it white and sprayed a bit of dust on his back and the tips of his tail and ears, and shrunk it to 12 inches tall, you'd have Buddy. He doesn't jump up in your lap, but rather comes up to you and leans against your leg like a cat. He's very quiet and almost shy when getting petted. But he can bring out a burst of energy and run in circles with no warning. His big thing is to run with his chew bone in his mouth, drop it, circle the storage building, pick it up, circle the building again, drop it again, and repeat.

This will repeat for about three or four runs, then he just drops down into the grass for a good chew. He will chew on the rawhide for a few minutes, get up, carry it across the patio, lie down in the grass on the other side, and chew for a while, then get up and move back to where he was. This is sometimes an opportunity to prance a bit in the process.

Everything gets his attention. But he doesn't make any noise about it. The dog across the street will start a barking fit and Buddy will walk up to the fence with his ears straight up. He then sits "at attention", looking quite impressive. You'd think he was a full size Shepherd sitting there. Then he'll get bored, get up and trot off. That's when he looks like a tiny yard dog again.

Our yard is going to be safe from frogs, crickets, and small bugs, for sure. If he sees one moving, he has to play with it. He loves to eat ice too. Throw a cube out there and he'll gobble it up. He's had no qualms about eating dry dog food either, which is good.

We put up a "Beware Of Dog" sign for Samson, and it was kinda necessary for him. It's still there, but it's more a joke now because Buddy probably would run from anyone going in the yard.

So we had a rough time with Samson, but we're much better off now and both Mom and I are happy with our new little Buddy.

By the way... Buddy's original name was Bullett, with two T's. Neither Mom nor I cared much for that name and she just started calling him Buddy, altho that's the name of my best friend's dog. But it fits him better, so it's probably going to stick. And besides, I don't think he can argue about it with me. :)