Buddy Seymour

9/4/06 - This update is long past due. Wow where does the time go? Buddy is entering his 6th month with us and his personality keeps evolving. He is the biggest lover and endears himself to everyone he meets. Buddy has gained about 10 lbs since he has been with us and looks fabulous. We are now running him off leash with his best friend and brother Dexter. The funny thing is if Buddy does not respond to 'come' I simply call Dexter's name and back Buddy comes. We run him at a private farm that has chickens and at times he cannot contain himself and has to chase them back to the coup. (Thank god chickens can fly!) Our newest addition to the family is my daughter's hampster. Buddy thinks I have purchased him a fuzzy new squeaky toy!! I'm trying to convince him that he is part of our pack but so far he is just not buying it. Buddy continues to be a great source of joy in our family and we are so blessed to have found him. Thanks again.

3/23/06 - Well Buddy has been with us only 2 weeks however it seems as if he has been here always. He certainly fit right in with our family. He loves our yard. No matter the temp. he and Dexter would spend all day out if I allowed it. It is fenced and he can run and play and chew all the sticks he can find. I am certain I will not have a nice yard this summer with all the activity it will see. Buddy has been introduced to walking at our local state park and loves it. He walks on a leash and is doing about 1-2 miles. We are slowly bringing him to Dexter's level of 2-4 miles off leash. Buddy continues to improve in his listening to commands skills. He does terrific with sit and stay at the front door when it is open. He loves to ride in the car and has so far been a perfect gentleman while waiting for me. He is challenged with destroying artificial plants. Although I did not have many I now only have one left!!! I am determined that we will get this and he will not disturb that one. Last week Buddy had a visit with his new doggy doctor. No problems, we just decided to give him few more innoculations. Doc thought we should have named him 'Moose'. He weighed in at 78.5 lbs and doc feels he could gain another 10 or so. The doc did find a back tooth that is cracked in half?!? go figure. So we may have to have that removed. We are so thankful that Buddy has joined our family and thank all the wonderful people at BAR who helped us along the way.

3/14/06 - Well Buddy has been with us for almost a week now and he has settled right in. My Boxer Dexter just loves his new friend as do we all. He seems particularly found of my son Andrew who is 6 and Buddy is almost taller than him. Buddy has claimed Andrews bed as his!!! He is a very large dog and his size is growing on me. When I met him I just kept thinking wow, he's big. But we could not wish for a better dog at heart than Buddy. He is a gentle giant. All he asks from us is our time and attention and in return we get lots and lots of big wet kisses. Buddy is a perfect gentleman when it comes to eating and dinner time. He does not beg or whine for food he simply lays at our feet under the table. I think hoping for a stray piece of anything!!! The high school girls La Cross team practices across the street from our house. I think Buddy has now met them all. They just love him. It really is a sight to see Buddy with 20 girls around him. When they practice he sits by the front window and watches. That's all for now I will update again soon.

3/8/06 - Buddy has gone home to his new family today. A few tears were shed on my part when he left but his new family are great and I know he'll be happy as a lark with his new "kids" and boxer brother. I look forward for his updates.

3/4/06 - Hello everyone. There won't be to many updates left as I'm sure Buddy will be going home very soon. Someone will be getting the perfect dog. A couple days ago Buddy started the protection thing with my kids. He doesn't like it when we roughhouse. He looks at me with those droopy eyes, whines and puts his big ox body between me and the kids. He then showers the kids faces with boxer kisses. We will miss him tremendously when he goes. The house will be so quiet (if that's possible with four other dogs). I know his family will love him just as much as we do. How could they not?

3/1/06 - Today I thought it would be a good idea to cat test Buddy myself to make sure how he would react in their presence (I don't own one) rather than rely on information from a third party. We have had numerous applications for Buddy from families who have cats and I just wanted to see for myself how he would interact with them. I took him to a friends house who lives on a farm with barn cats, house cats, horses and ducks. Buddy tried sniffing the cats, got hissed and batted at and simply lost interest. He was also not interested in the horses or the ducks. He just looked at them, tilted his head sideways in curiosity and bounded on his merry way to play with the kids. The only thing it seems Buddy is really interested in are his foster brothers and sisters (both four legged and two) his foster mom and dad, going for walks and riding in the car.

2/23/06 - Buddy may or may not be a purebred Boxer (his dewclaws have been removed indicating it was done by a breeder) but please don't let that be a reason to overlook him. He has a boxers personality down pat. Everything we all love about the breed Buddy has. Including loyalty and wanting to be with the one's he loves. He is an ABSOLUTE gem with a heart full of love. Trust me when I say that Buddy would fill your home with nothing but joy and adopting him would make you the lucky one.

2/22/06 - Buddy continues to do well. He's gained six pounds in the two weeks he's been here. We did have an incident with the caged house rabbit when I left Buddy alone and out of the crate to get the kids on the bus yesterday morning. (bunny is fine). But were working on teaching Buddy that bunny is a member of our pack just like the rest of us. Buddy catches on so fast and is so eager to please. But he won't be left uncrated for any amount of time when alone anymore. Buddy is waiting patiently for his forever home. Preferably one where he can sleep on the bed. He loves to lay on the bed with the rest of the dogs, but when mom and dad settle in for the night the resident dogs have decided there's no more room. Poor Buddy just looks at us with those big droopy eyes and finally settles for the floor at the foot of the bed. Please, someone open your hearts and home (and bed) for this big loveable guy. The first time you meet him you'll be hooked, I promise.

2/17/06 - Just wanted to tell everyone that Buddy went for his well vet visit yesterday. He is in tip top shape. The funniest thing happened. A little Jack Russel in the waiting room was not liking Buddy. He was growling and showing his teeth at us. Big tuff Buddy hid behind me whimpering the whole time. If someone is looking for a big intimidating looking dog without a mean bone in his entire body, well Buddy is the dog for you.

2/15/06 - Hello everyone, Buddy here. It's about time my foster mom let me talk. I've been here almost a week now. I like my new foster sisters and brother. I also like the kids. Everyone is so nice here. I here my foster mom bragging to everyone on the phone about how good I am. I haven't had any accidents in the house, I don't mind sharing my food with the other dogs, I know some tricks too (although mom says I need to be more careful when taking treats, but I'm afraid the other dogs will get it). I walk really good on a leash and I love to ride in the car. I would like a home with another dog because I love to play, and kids too, if I could. But maybe bigger kids would be better. Don't get me wrong, I love the little ones to but mom says I don't realize how big I am and I don't want to knock anyone over. I'm very loyal and would love to be your new best friend. Someone please give me a forever home so I don't have to keep moving.

From our Home Visit Coordinator: I met Kim and Buddy last night and let me tell you folks, I wish I had fostered Buddy. What an AMAZING dog. I have had boxers all my life with the largest being 100 lbs. Once Kim fattens him up, he is going to be about that size. He is absolutely GORGEOUS with a personality to match. He was happy to rest his big chops in Kim's hands while we spoke. He's been with them since Friday and it's clear how thankful he is to have a warm home.
He's living in harmony with Kim's four dogs and three children. His previous home had cats so they shouldn't be an issue. I hope people step up quick if they're interested in him because he's going to be GONE GONE GONE.

2/13/06 - Well, Buddy has been here 3 days now. I think he is adjusting well. He's starting to play with the toys and barking at the other dogs to play with him. Today he started the funniest thing. He grabs the tennis ball and flings it in the air with his mouth and my dalmation mix catches it. It was hilarious to watch. Buddy and I also went for our first walk in town today. He did awesome. He walked by my side the whole time. He didn't pay any attention to the big rottweiler in someone's fenced back yard that was barking at us, nor did he mind wearing his doggie coat. He was however a little scared of the big trucks passing us. But after a little reassurance he was fine. I'm happy to report there seems to be no food aggression. My boxer girl decided this morning that Buddy's breakfast looked better then hers. He didn't seem to mind at all when she pushed him out of the way. He just walked over and ate hers. They also all share the water bowl. Buddy is very easy to get attached to. We love him already. He is going to make someone a perfect loyal companion.

2/11/06 - We just picked Buddy up from the shelter yesterday. On the ride home he just laid down in the front seat and laid his big head on my lap. Introductions to the resident dogs went wonderfully. Buddy seems to love everyone. We haven't had any problems with him with the kids. He follows my two yr old around the house and he likes to lay with his head on the laps of the two older kids(12 and 10). He is completely housebroken and knows the word potty. He walks well on the leash during potty breaks (which is a good thing since he is a big boy). He also listens pretty well. When he noticed the indoor rabbit for the first time he put his feet up on the stand and tilted his head sideways to observe. I told him down and he listened and then lost interest. Buddy does not like the crate. I don't think he really needs one. We let him loose in the house last night and there were no problems at all. He slept in the doggie bed all night. He will be crated when left alone until we know more about him. So far I can say Buddy is an absolute doll. I will report more in a few days.