Thanks Gordon!
Yes, Buddy is a very cool dog. He is about 7 years old, but we have had him for almost two years. He, and his brother, belonged to a friend of ours who could no longer care for them. They came from an abusive home, so we did our best to make them feel loved. In all honesty, it was tougher for me than for Krista or the kids. Krista is an animal lover and instantly bonded, and the kids, well they're kids with dogs. For me, suddenly we had two dogs to deal with and there were times it was annoying.
The funny thing is that Buddy used to be a real nasty dog. He was just unfriendly and unpleasant. One day we took both digs to the vet, and unfortunately the older, larger dog, Muttley, had an allergic reaction to the distemper vaccine. He went into shock and died a few hours later. Needless to say, quite a traumatic incident for the kids. But the interesting thing is that Buddy's personality changed, almost instantly. He still dislikes all other dogs intensely, but he is a VERY sweet and gentle dog now. He loves to just sit beside us and keep us company, and even though he is not a very energetic or athletic dog (he has no concept whatsoever of "fetch!"
) he does like to run around outside when it snows. We are currently deciding how to get a puppy for Merboy, and incorporate it into our family, since Buddy does not like other dogs.
