This is Buddy.
He's a five year old Golden Retriever and he's a delight.
His family gave him up for adoption because too much was going on in their life and they just couldn't give him the time that he needed.
Here's a little about my companion of 3 months:
Buddy: Golden Retriever
- bilingual -
- reliable, slightly anxious, likes to sleep, enjoys playing with cats -
Likes:
sniffing everything
doing spinning jumps when you come home from work
running down the street to smell all flower beds after escaping from my owner
being brushed
dinner time
ear pets
tummy rubs
being splashed by the hose
when the male human plays with me (not so sure about the female one)
cuddles with the female human
sleeping on cold floors
peanut butter, hot dogs, cats, squirrels, turquoise rugs
Dislikes:
being on a lead
being trained
being left alone
hissy cats
the crate
when the cats get attention and I do not
my paws being cleaned
playing fetch more than 3 throws
squirrels being in the garden
people coming onto the driveway
change - visitors/routine
carrots, halti-collars
This dog is the best and, also, one of the most challenging 'projects' I've ever taken on. On the one hand, he's super affectionate, incredibly smart and laid back enough for the lifestyle we lead, on the other, he's not all that smart when it comes to, you know, life choices.
The other day, he made a bad life choice and ate something that was not dog friendly. It was during this panic about his wellbeing and considering getting him to a vet that I realised that there have been few times when I have cared so much about an animal. For the most part, whenever our cats have been ill, they've known how to deal with it themselves, which I'm grateful for because when a cat has heatstroke it's scary - all those noises and shakiness! When Buddy gets sick...well he's just not very cat like. It was at that moment that I realised that three months into living with this ginger monstrosity, I'd kind of fallen in love. His eagerness to learn, love and just hang out with us is amazing. Sometimes I don't even want to hang out with us; we can be pretty boring peeps but Buddy doesn't seem to care. He's so not perfect and we've had a few issues but I think adopting Buddy will be one of the best things we ever did. The house has never been cleaner (less edible temptations for him), calmer and more homely.
I would happily chill with him in the front room all day.
* Buddy is now doing better, he actually wasn't unwell, just being ridiculous because he has a rather ridiculous owner who panicked.
** We wanted to change his name to George (doesn't he look like a George?) but we decided against it. After all, there are so many other training points that need to take priority.
***It distresses me that the dog is bilingual, sometimes I feel like he's overqualified to be my pet.
