Meet our new Buddy

Our new dog, who already answers to “Buddy”, has turned out to be more than we ever could have hoped for. It was the right breed for our lifestyle, and it was the right dog.

Getting a first picture of him was extremely difficult, as we didn’t want to flash in his face too often this soon. The pic above is the best of the first group we snapped, and I cropped it down to just show his “pretty” face. Already, he is truly a tag-along buddy, which is what we desired.

Maybe I can bribe my California buddy Ed Wall to send one of his church portrait photographers our way, so we can get an official portrait. Pictures notwithstanding, the dog is doing wonderfully well.

He’s barely nine months old, so the six-hour airplane trip yesterday, including a stop and plane change in Salt Lake City, had traumatized him pretty much. As we began the drive towards home, Kay Lynne just held him and comforted him. It took about 25 minutes of love until his little tail started moving.

My son Doug “happened” to call my cell phone not 5 minutes after we picked him up at SeaTac airport. He asked if Buddy might “need a potty break”. There was a small lawn next to his office building that would work just perfectly, he deadpanned. So Doug became the first in our family, outside of my wife and me, to meet the little guy. Buddy passed his first “exam” with flying colors.

The dog’s demeanor is perfect for us – VERY laid back yet social and quite inquisitive. He follows us everywhere and spent most of today checking out every corner of his new domain. Last night he slept in his new, thick-cushioned doggie bed -- right next to our bed -- and didn’t move once till morning. Now that’s my kinda dog. We think he’s a “keeper”.