BUDDY 7/25/03
#265
Adopted
9/13/03
Pictures
Buddy's Foster Journey
Post Adoption
Pertinent Information
Approx. 1 1/2 yr. to 2 yr. old Flashy Fawn Male
66 1/2 lbs., tall and statuesque
Natural Ears and Docked Tail
Neutered and UTD
Shelter Surrender
Obedience Training Required
Being Fostered in East Lyme, CT
Adoption Donation $250
10/6/04 - Well, it has been a whole year since Buddy joined our family and he has been a wonderful addition. He had some little aggression issues when we adopted him (they were the reason we kept him instead of adopting him out) but he has come around very nicely. I think the that we have seen a really big change in him since Kaiser was adopted in Feb. He has learned the right way to seek attention. He used to go after strangers hands as a protective move, but has not done that behavior in at least 6 months. We dearly love our 90 lb. big boy! Here is a picture of him with his new little brother, Kaiser.
4/20/04 - Buddy has been with us for 6 months now and is just such a special boy. He has gained a little too much weight and we are restricting his intake now. We lost his brother Joey, a few months ago to degenerative mylopethy and now Buddy has taken over as the head of the dog household. Then we added a new Boxer puppy, Kaiser, to the mix in March and they are all getting along very well together. Buddy is a bit too large and a little too exuberant for the puppy sometimes, but they are working on it. We have started Buddy in obedience training and he is a handful. He is having problems sitting and after the first class last night he was limping very badly on his rear leg, so I think we need to have that looked at. He is really just a great big baby and we love him so much. He has found his forever home.
11/1/03 - What a shame, Mom is so busy putting up updates on all the new BAR dogs that she has neglected to update her own new son!! I have settled in to my new home just fine. I has become very fond of Coco and she and I play non stop. The old guy here, Joey, is the king and I respect him and his space. Since Joey can't get up on the chair anymore, he and Mom spend a lot of time sitting together on the couch which leaves a nice big green recliner empty. It looked so inviting, that I have staked my claim to it and boy is it comfy. (See the picture to the right) Mom and Dad say that I am a very good boy and I listen to Dad's commands very well. Boy am I a lucky dog to have found such a good home. Thanks Uncle Gary and BAR for rescuing me from that shelter.
9/13/03 - Buddy has officially been adopted by
his foster family.
Buddy has come soooo far and has gotten
such a tight grip on our hearts, that we have decided to adopt him.
Never thought I'd have 3 of my own in the house, but Buddy is here to
stay!
9/8/03 - Well, I have been telling everyone that
Buddy should be the only dog in his "forever" home..... not
necessarily...... we had a breakthrough today! I was getting the
feeling that he really wanted to play and be with our two dogs, Joseph and
Coco, but it was also evident that he did not like our other foster girl,
Peggy Sue. I had every intention of trying him with just our 2 dogs
when she left. Yesterday Peggy Sue, now named Ali ,was
adopted. This morning I unintentionally left a door open and Buddy
came face to face with our male and they acted like "Ho, hum, so
what!" I couldn't believe it, they were absolutely fine
together. So later on in the day I got real brave and opened a gate
and Buddy came in to the main part of the house with the other 2 dogs and
all 3 of them acted like he had been with them all along!! I guess 6
weeks of seeing each other from behind gates desensitized them to one
another. To the left at the top is a picture of them all playing in
the yard together. The indoor pictures didn't come out well, but I
will try later to get some of them all stretched out together in the
family room. I just can't tell you how great it was today to see
them all interact so well. I knew that Buddy was coming along nicely
with my husband training him, but I was really impressed at how well he
listened to him while with the other dogs. As a matter of fact, he
listens much better than our own two dogs! Buddy just needed to have
love and to feel secure before he could drop his guard and realize that
all other animals are not enemies. Who knows how long this poor boy
was on the streets having to fight other animals for every morsel of
food.
This breakthrough came at the perfect time, as I brought home another
foster boy from PetRock yesterday. Buddy really wants to get to him,
but is acting with him like he acted with our dogs at first.
So I don't think Buddy will ever be the kind of dogs who accepts
every new dog he meets unconditionally. I think that he will have to
be introduced and desensitized slowly and given a lot of love and
understanding, but it can be done! Now, if we just had a test kitty!
8/29/03 - Buddy, Buddy, Buddy, when is your forever family going to find you? You are such a good boy and getting better with our female, Coco, everyday. This is one super good dog and will make a great companion for the right family who has no other animals and no small children. He is an exuberant puppy who is content to be with his "people" and give lots of love. We wish you could tell us of your your past, but I guess it is best forgotten as you move on to a new life of love and security. Won't you consider giving Buddy a chance to prove what a love he is?
8/20/03 - Buddy continues to get along splendidly
in his foster home. He is such a good boy here. Just a minute
ago my husband came in from his morning outing and realized that he has
forgotten to open the back door for Buddy. He said that Buddy looked
at him like, "Come on Dad, I really have to go!" So he
opened the door and Buddy went right outside and did his business.
He has not had even one little accident in the house.
We did try Buddy with some other dogs this past weekend, but unfortunately
they were all males and he was not terribly fond of them. We spoke
to a trainer who feels that he will need at least another month or 6 weeks
since he was only neutered 3 weeks ago for the effects of the neutering to
show up in his personality. But he may never be really fond of other
male dogs. So Buddy is looking for a home where he will be the only
dog and a nice fenced in yard would certainly make him happy as he spend
hours playing ball outside. He brings the ball inside, drops it and
pushes it towards us to pick up and throw for him. Because he was a
stray from a shelter we will also not place Buddy in a home with small
children either as we do not know enough about his background and he is
just too big an energetic puppy for young children. Everyone that
seems him says what a gorgeous dog he is. So if you have the kind of
home that Buddy needs, please contact us.
8/9/03 - Buddy here - Mom let me write to you
today to tell you how well I am doing. I am feeling so much more
relaxed and so secure here. I have realized that I am no longer a
dog without a home who has to fight his way on the streets - thanks
to BAR, I have a wonderful foster home and am just waiting for the perfect
forever home to find me.
So now I am even thinking that all other dogs may not be out to get me and
maybe I don't have to be nasty to all of them. There is another big
male guy here who I didn't hit it off well with from the beginning.
He doesn't get around too well and is cranky so we keep our
distance. The other foster here, Peggy Sue, is okay I guess,
but she lets me bully her, so, of course, I am going to keep it up!
But, there IS this feisty little girl named Coco here who won't take any
of my nonsense and stands up to me. Now she's the kind of girl for
me, I kind of like her, but have to be real careful showing her, cause she
could end of breaking my heart - dames are like that! Mom has been
letting her out into the fenced in yard so that we can play together and
we have been getting along real well. Mom stay with us and tell us,
"Stop" when we get a little too rambunctious. Last night
Mom laughed at us because she was in the family room and I was in the
office and hallway and we started talking to one another. She asked
if I wanted to go out and play and of course I said yes. So we both
barked and pestered Mom until she brought Coco out to play with me.
I still love people best though, and Mom and Dad say that I am the best
dog they have ever seen with people - I just LOVE all of them!
Oh yea, I almost forgot to tell you, I got loose the other day and took a
little run around the neighborhood. There have been all these guys
in and out of the house putting down new floors and we dogs had to be
shuffled all around. So once when Mom was bringing me outside, the
leash just came loose and I was free, so I took a little run. Mom
ran after me, what fun!! Dad got in the car and followed me down the
hill and when he stopped the car and told me to sit, I did just what he
said, and then we got in the car and rode home. I had a great time,
but I don't think Mom and Dad were too pleased, although they praised me
for being such a good boy and listening so well to Dad when he came to get
me. I really do want to be a good boy and I do listen real well.
8/3/03 - Buddy is making great strides. He
has not jumped up at all for the last 3 days. That is a major
accomplishment for an energetic puppy like him. We used
"off" and the hand sign for stay, but most of all, we used
positive reinforcement. If he didn't jump up we bent over and hugged
him, petted him and gave him lovin' and it worked! He loves to play
with toys and we can take them away from him with no problem. I can
take his food bowl away while he is still eating and do anything to him
and he never makes a peep. He just absolutely loves people and will
make a wonderful family member. His only drawback is that he is just
not too fond of other animals. He needs to be with a family and feel
secure, and also attend obedience training to socialize him with other
animals.
Buddy is a wonderful house guest. He has not had any accidents in
the house at all and, even though he is puppyish, he has not chewed
anything but his own toys. I would not hesitate to give him free run
of the house if it weren't for the other dogs.
7/30/03 - Since we lost our cat, a family of
bunnies and a lot of squirrels have set up housekeeping around our house
and boy is Buddy interested in them! And of course I think they know
he can't get out of the fence to chase them and just hop by slowly to
torment him! He has tried to dig under the fence to get to them and
we had to put some concrete blocks against the fence too. I don't
think he would be a good candidate for an invisible fence. And
because he is overly interested in small creatures, I'm afraid cats might
fall into that same category.
We had 2 twelve years olds over yesterday and he really loved playing with
the older kids. He is still jumping up when he gets overly excited
so I think older children would be a better match for him than younger.
Buddy is really a people dog and particularly likes to hang around
with the "guys". My old male Boxer does not like Buddy at
all and the feeling is mutual. However, he does seems to get along
much better with the less dominant females. But a toy or a ball or a
human are much more to his liking than another dog.
7/28/03 - Buddy has certainly become my husband's
"buddy". He just brought a flashing ball into the office
and dropped it at his feet as if to say, "Come on, it's time to
play!" My husband lost his cat 2 weeks ago and was feeling
pretty blue until Buddy came into our lives. Buddy needs some
individual love and attention and my retired husband has the time to spend
with him.
Buddy has completely moved into the air conditioned office section of the
house. He moved in on Sun. afternoon when it was so hot and has
resided there for 2 days now and there have been no accidents at all, so
he is fully housetrained. He is free to roam into the hallway where
he can interact with the other dogs through 2 baby gates. Each day
they become more used to each other and spend a little more time together,
but we believe in very slow introductions particularly since there
are 4 of them all with different unique personalities.
This past weekend we had an 8 or 9 yr. old children at the house and he went out
and played with Buddy. He just loved playing ball with him.
So, if you want a real "buddy" and have a little time to
spend training him, you will have a true, loyal companion.
7/26/03 - Buddy is getting along so well here
that we have decided to extend his stay indefinitely. I really don't
think he will be here all that long because he will probably be adopted in
no time! My husband is really fond of Buddy and takes him out into
the fenced yard every couple hours to play and then does some obedience
training with him. He is a big, strong boy who will need to attend
obedience training when he is adopted. He is sooo... eager to please
and already knows "sit", "stay", "paw", and
"down" (most of the time) and is learning "off".
In just the 2 day that he has been here, he has really improved.
I have introduced him to our 2 dogs and our other foster dog and he is
just fine with them. Our girl, Coco, is the only one that wants to
give him any trouble, but she is like that with every new dog. He
just runs away from her when she get too dominant. We will be letting him get further acquainted with
our other resident dogs slowly.
When we first took Buddy in to rescue last weekend, we did not have a
foster home available, so he spent the first few days at a
training/boarding facility here in CT where he was evaluated as being very
"workable". Buddy was neutered last Wednesday and brought
up to date on his shots, then my husband picked him up from the vet and
took him back to the training facility for 2 more days. They were
booked up for the weekend and that is when we decided to
"spring" him and bring him here for a few days until a permanent
foster home opened up. Since he is getting along so well, we decided
to keep him here so that he did not have to be uprooted again. So
after another week of evaluation and socialization, he will be ready to be
adopted.
7/25/03 - The Canine Castle has a weekend guest who is spending a few days with us until he can be transported to LI on Sunday. He is a "gorgeous" flashy light fawn boy. He is too skinny and will be a nice size boy when he fills out. He has that handsome, large classic Boxer head. He seems to be a real sweetheart too. He checked in at noon and took a leisurely walk of the grounds. He was observed eating grass so the chef whipped up some hamburger and rice to help settle any little stomach upset he may be experiencing. Then he decided to take an afternoon nap. He is in need of a bath and has an appointment at the spa later on this afternoon. Stay tuned for future updates.
Buddy has taken over the recliner!
Buddy has really made him self at home!
Buddy with Joseph & Coco! Yeah!