Buddy

Hi!

I just wanted to drop you a line about Seymore, the yellow lab we adopted. First of all, he has been renamed Buddy by his little girl, whom he shares with a Saint Bernard named Sara. Sara, Buddy and even Spike (the cat) have all become the best of friends. They play until they just have to sleep.

Believe it or not, Buddy has learned to walk up to people and sit, then he patiently waits for his "good boy" treat. He has even gotten to know the "leave it" command. Buddy is very intelligent, and we look forward to teaching Sara and him some entertaining tricks.

One of Buddy's cutest quirks is panting with his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth. The funniest thing he has done so far is peeking around the shower curtain. The other day, he just decided that the shower looked like way too much fun and jumped in with me. So I gave him a bath!

The "dynamic duo," as they have been nicknamed, will be going hiking this week, and when the summer comes they have camping to look forward to. We are hoping to get Sara and Buddy their good canine citizen certificates and, if all goes well, even do some therapy work by visiting hospitals. They will also be learning some agility this summer. Buddy and Sara will have a vast array of activities to keep their minds and bodies in excellent condition.

In closing, we would like to thank you for letting Buddy become a loved and cherished member of our family. They are truly loved, and provide so much comfort and silly times, not only to each other but to the entire family. And just one more thing: I think we may have to buy my daughter a king-size bed since both dogs love to sleep with her!

Sincerely,

The Schiller Family

Update 12/31/09:

I need to tell you about our dog Buddy (who was known as Seymore the yellow lab at the shelter). While we have already submitted a Happy Tails story to the website, Buddy recently became a doggie hero on November 11, 2009. You see, on that day an electrical fire started in the upstairs of our house. My husband was home sick with a stomach virus, and was exhausted due to lack of sleep. He was passed out on the couch after being sent home from work early, and my daughter and I had made plans to go to the movies.

As we sat in the movies my cell phone kept going off (on vibrate of course), until I finally called the voice mail. It was my husband frantically telling me that the house had caught on fire, and that if Buddy had not been in the house with him, he would probably be dead. My husband said he was in such a deep sleep that he never heard the smoke detectors going off. Buddy jumped on him and pawed at his chest until he woke up.

I'm happy to say that everyone, including all of our animals, made it out just fine. To this day Buddy will run and bark if he hears a smoke detector go off, and will try to make sure that everyone is in the same room. If someone is missing, he will actually try to find that person.

I just had to let someone at the Humane Society know about Buddy's heroism. He deserves some boasting! He was a terrific dog when we brought him home, and we all love him so much. We now have a better understanding about how much he loves his family too. I hope you can use Buddy's story to promote how great and good shelter dogs are.

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