Buddy

Updated 3/22/11

When Mr Buddy’s owner moved into an apartment, she made the tough decision to look for a new home for her teenage Golden… because small spaces and big Golden  galoots don’t really go together! “He did have puppy training, but we’ve spoiled him a little bit,” she said apologetically. “But he’s a great dog and so eager to do the right thing. Please find a  family to love him forever.”

It did take a couple of weeks for Mr Buddy to settle down and start figuring out how to behave—indoors, outdoors, and with other dogs. (Or more accurately, remembering how to behave! If you’ve ever brought up a Golden, you are probably all too familiar with Teenage Doggie Amnesia, where your dog suddenly seems to forget everything he ever learned as a puppy, even including “sit.” Luckily Mr Buddy is climbing back up the learning curve now!)

His foster mom says:

We are so smitten with this boy. He’s winning friends everywhere we take him. He’s got charisma! Of course,  he also has some sharp teeth and he’s still learning when “enough-is-enough”  when playing Bite-the-Face with our Zoe. And he’s a curious guy… he will “confiscate” anything on his eye level that appeals to him. I've lost a tube of lipstick, and Paul had a shoe taken, but the only thing other than the lipstick that was actually destroyed was a shoestring from that shoe. I think he accidentally clipped it with his sharp tooth. It just snapped in half—not chewed at all.

When he gets excited about something, he has a ton of nervous energy and has been caught chewing on the rug under our dining table. That's a BIG  "No-No!"  He stole Paul’s paper napkin from his lap while we were eating dinner tonight. I have to say that we were poor disciplinarians there… we were laughing too hard. He just swiped it  and ran!

He isn’t protective of his food at all, and he sleeps right through the night. Totally housebroken, too. We were a bit concerned about his hips, since we saw a little “hitch” now and then,  but a trip to the specialist set our minds at rest—Buddy does have “moderate” dysplasia, but the doctor said just treat it with glucosamine, weight control, moderate exercise to keep his muscles nice and strong (no marathons though), and Rimadyl if he ever gets sore. He has been walking with us up to 45 minutes at a time and shows no sign of problems.    He and Zoe also do a lot of playing without any outward signs. In the pix, Buddy is the big guy with the yellow collar. Zoe’s collar is red and she’s usually the one on her back! When they are both down rolling on the floor, they look a lot alike. However, Buddy outweighs her  by at least 20 pounds and stands about a foot taller. He’s a BIG guy!

Buddy is a GREAT dog. He entertains us continually! He loves attention and praise. We have loved watching him blossom! He's about a foot taller than our Zoe & will bump me from behind if we're walking down the hall together and he's behind me. He always seems to have an alert, inquisitve look on his face, all  ready to explore his day and have new adventures. He is a sweetheart! We’re really enjoying our time with him, as we enjoy  all our Fosters, but this one is indeed special and we want a SPECIAL family for him.