Meet Buddy

The dog chronicles continue.

I didn’t want to get a new dog because my heart was broken by the death of my last dog, Jack. But I thought my remaining dog, Luna, would need a buddy. I kept looking at various sites to find a dog I thought would work well for both of us. Whenever I’d get close, I’d back off because it all felt just too painful, especially getting a new puppy and bonding with them all over again, only to watch them die about a decade or so later.

There are advantages to a puppy because they don’t come with all of the history that can sometimes be traumatic. My dog Luna had a rough past and has been unable to socialize well with any other dog except Jack. She backs off and hides behind me. I took her to meet a dog I thought would be nice enough for her to warm up to, but she scared them off, and we had to start over.

I kept coming back to this one dog at a nearby shelter. His story was so sad. He’d been kept in a small cat carrier with two other dogs in a hoarder situation, said to be the worst in US history. But it was his face that stayed with me.

So I figured I’d go check out this little guy. He was shy, but after I gave him a few treats, he came and sat on my feet. That was a sign. So I adopted him and named him Buddy.

I looked into the story of the dog hoarders, and I saw him in the video.

The woman who ran it said they were cared for and that she wasn’t hoarding them.

I don’t know what is true about this story, but I do know that Buddy is a happy guy. He looks around the world in wonder, as though he’s never seen things like grass or trees. My other dog, Luna, is not happy about any of it. She hides under the bed and hasn’t warmed up to him much. She doesn’t really walk alongside him. I hope that they can get to know each other.

When I first brought Luna home, she warmed up to Jack instantly, and they became best pals. But now that she is the main dog, she’s less inclined to accept the new dog. This is fairly normal, I’ve heard. I just hope it’s temporary. I guess we’ll see.

For now, Buddy is a happy guy. Hopefully, Luna will be too.