It’s hard to believe that we’ve been together six month already. His predecessor took her final walk just three weeks before on National Dog Day, August 26th. How strange is that? One of the best creatures I’ve ever had the good fortune to know and she steps out of the world on the day meant to celebrate her.

Buddy’s a good little guy. I feel like I’m still just getting to know him. I suppose that makes some sense, after all his personality is growing and changing along with his body.

I thought I was getting a big dog when I found him at the shelter in Detroit Lakes. That was my intent. And, clearly I didn’t pay close enough attention to his small feet. But, I had no choice. He stole my heart the moment he climbed into my lap. I couldn’t not take him home with me. So, I am with a dog who at about 8 months of age weighs 32 lbs. I’m guessing he’ll top out at 40 lbs at the most.

His predecessor had a gift of understanding people and getting even those who genuinely feared dogs to trust her and, almost always, to fall in love.

Buddy, now he’s the class clown. Just yesterday he proved his hunting prowess by beating his pals in catching an already dead rabbit at the park. It was hilarious watching him on his little stout legs run down the path at top speed with this still fairly fresh headless bunny in his mouth and his pal Frannie, a Weimaraner who is tall enough that he can run under her, in hot pursuit. He has since caught that same rabbit at least three more times. He’s also quite good with a kangaroo style leap after field mice, loves to leap from the tallest snow drifts and dig himself in over his head in search of his prey until he gets distracted by a bird, another dog, or maybe a piece of sausage. Buddy is not one to focus on one activity for long.

He is a smart guy though. We didn’t make it through Good Citizenship training yet. We tried, but with snow drifts it’s tough to do loose leash walking and with all the snow days class was a bit inconsistent. We’ll try again in a few months. He is getting pretty good with sit, stay, lay down, roll, shake, and spin though. Down and back off need continuing work, but he’s really gotten a lot better. And, he’s not chewing on his human near as much as he used to.

I wonder what he’ll grow up to be like. I’d like to someday train him to be a therapy dog. I’m guessing he’ll be good with elders. I don’t quite know why I feel that, but I do. We’ll see. Until then, he’s being a good pal and reminding me often of what’s important. He takes me out for walks. Gets me to go play at the park. Reminds me when it’s time to shut down the computer and wrestle or cuddle. It’s good to have beings like this in our lives to take care of us, remind us to live and not get too caught up in the unimportant things of life. I still miss his predecessor, but her spirit led me to another good friend.