Buddy Yellow Labrador Retriever 10 year old Male

September 13, 2018

September 6, 2018

We are officially making this beautiful stud muffin available. Last call will be 4pm, Tuesday September 11. We wrestled with failing but we decided to keep helping other dogs in need.

August 26, 2018

Buddy Continues to adapt and master life off the farm. What an amazing transformation in 4 weeks.

He recently went to the Vet Dermatologist and is on medication for his years of untreated infected ears and itchy skin. If the medication does not work after a few weeks, we will proceed with allergy testing.

He is learning to walk on a leash and improving but still pulls, especially when he sees other dogs. He really seems friendly towards them. We also realized he loves to chase squirrels and rabbits so chances are he has a prey drive.

We are still working on some manners such as not using our ginormous head to bolt out the front door like a raging bull,  not eating other dogs food after finishing our own, not pushing (again with our enormous head)  to be first for everything. He also comes in and out of the house like a pro, doors do not phase him anymore!

The only toy he plays with so far is a rope he likes to chew on. He continues to eat well and started a limited diet food and seems to like it. Since being neutered,  starting a better diet and walking, he has lost almost 10lbs and weighs a perfect 74lbs! His coat is looks healthy and shiny.

Foster mom is looking forward to spending more one-on-one training time once school starts this week! Stay tuned for updates. 

August 10, 2018:  The saga of Buddy learning about stairs:

What’s all this talk about stairs?

11:30 pm : I came home at 11:30 from work exhausted.

11:45 pm: I want upstairs to wash up and heard this thumping sound outside the bathroom door. Startled, I come out of the bathroom to see Buddy on the second floor.

Apparently he decided LAST night that enough was enough with these steps, and he was going to see what was on that mysterious second floor where everybody disappears too!

12:00 am : After barging into each room, and thoroughly exploring and smelling every single nook and cranny, FM decided it was time to go to bed! However Inspector Buddy was way too restless to sleep up there.

So as we have been doing for the past two weeks, it was time to go down to the living room and sleep on the couch. It was a descent which of course he was not prepared to do.

12:05 am : Although I was very proud I was also very tired. So as he proudly stood at the top of the staircase looking down, with my daughter and I trying to coax him he was just too scared to try and began pacing in the hall.

12:10 am: I recall the trail of liverwurst story and I begin to cut up pieces of that nasty smelling stuff for this trail!

12:14 am:  I begin making the trail of liverwurst which now brings out Max our resident dog, who has never had liverwurst in his life and now is quite fond of it!

12:15 am: Max decides  to eat the trail of liverwurst as I’m putting it on the steps! Of course, my 11 year old daughter is laughing hysterically and I’m trying to do all of this without waking my husband who starts work at 5am! Buddy eats the liverwurst at the top of the stairs and Max gobbles up the rest!

12:18 am : Defeated and faced with the prospect of having to wake my husband to carry this 85 pound dog down the steps, I sit on the couch in the living room for a moment to devise Plan C.

12:20 am: I hear another loud thump sound, but this one is a much faster thump noise so I dash over to the scene of this crime and Hallelujah Buddy appears!

12:24 am : So proud of his conquest of course, he was not ready to settle down and go to sleep. He climbed right back up those steps. Which meant then he had to come down the steps again. He was having the time of his life!

12:31 am : Now Foster Dad joins the party! FD goes to the basement to find a gate to fit the steps so our stair climbing champion wouldn’t spend all night climbing and descending!

12:39 am : With gate now installed, resident dog Max isn’t happy because he cannot freely move about the cabin!

12:45am :  Daughter, Max, Buddy and I attempt to settle down in the living room! Daughter decides she would rather go up to her room which gets everybody crazy again.

12:50am: Foster dad cannot fall asleep and comes down and sends FM to bed to get a restful night sleep. FM cannot testify what happened after that!

Just another day …… or NIGHT in the life of a foster family and foster dog and we wouldn’t have it any other way! Three cheers for Buddy!

August 9, 2018:  One of the greatest joys for a foster mom is when her farm dog learns what a toy is, possibly for the first time!  Buddy’s first toy was his foster mom’s socks. Once Buddy got the hang of what it meant to play, he decided to give his fleece tug toy a trial.  This boy is so sweet!

Wow!  Look at Buddy with his bully stick.  He’s finally learning how much fun toys and chew sticks can be.  Looks like he’s really starting to like this!

August 6, 2018

Buddy continues to flourish here!

He was neutered and is recovering nicely. I am honestly not sure he even notices.

We tried to take him for a small walk yesterday. He continues to get excited when he sees other dogs. We had to bring him home and it took him almost an hour to calm. He paces and pants.

We are going to try a harness as I think the leash and collar worry him. It is supposed to come tomorrow.

He has mastered in/out of the back door and the few steps without hesitation. He is eating well out of a bowl!

Not much seems to frighten him I ran the vacuum and my Neutra bullet blender and he didn’t flinch at either. He also saw and heard a motorcycle yesterday and could care less.

He still sits at the bottom of our staircase and has not attempted to climb yet. We are not encouraging this as he is not supposed to do anything too strenuous after his surgery.

He has learned to accept a treat when he comes inside from doing his business. We tried an ice cube today as our resident dog loves to chew on those and he wanted no part of that.

He seems quite content lying at the bottom of our steps it is a bit of a tighter space and I’m sure he feels secure there. He has done a little bit of re-decorating since the carpet runner is there and I tried putting one of Dee’s blankets there’s (perhaps he is just not a Yankees fan) and he pushes both out of the-way and sleeps on the bare hardwood floor.

He really is a hunka hunka burnin love. He is such a gentle giant. We just need to work on his manners when meeting other dogs.

He will be seeing a vet dermatologist For his itchies , however I could not get an appointment until early October.

July 31, 2018

I think we really turned a corner yesterday with Buddy. He is much more relaxed in the house, Last night he slept at the bottom of the stairs. Between my husband and myself one of us is sleeping on the couch so he is not alone.

He also seems more comfortable outside and isn’t running from me anymore I think we bonded at his vet appointment while waiting in the room yesterday.

My husband and I are treating him to a grooming appointment tomorrow We need to rid him of his scent de la farm once and for all.

He is scheduled to be neutered on Thursday at Harleysville. He and our resident dog Max seem to have a nice understanding between them. He is such a gentle giant.

He continues to eat, drink and take his meds …The liverwurst really helps with the meds!

Things are definitely looking up here.

July 28, 2018

Buddy had a better night! He is getting more comfortable but is still mainly in the kitchen.

He really wanted to be outside last night but slept under the kitchen table.

I picked up a crate for him hopefully that will make him feel more secure since he often lays against the gate leading into the kitchen.

He seems afraid of a leash. He ate some hard food watered down. He is also drinking.

He still runs away from me but seems to like my husband. Baby steps!

July 27, 2018

Buddy taking a nap in the yard.

My husband was up with sweet Buddy most of the night like a newborn every hour to hour and a half.

Since he feels more comfortable outside they were in and out a lot. Buddys’ reflection and shadows seem to scare him. At one point he was barking at his reflection in the dishwasher. We have covered the dishwasher and stove with towels which also freaks him out but just a little bit less.

He is more comfortable with walking in and out of the back door to the backyard , we have kept it propped open.

Currently he is on one side of the gate in the kitchen and Max is on the other side of the gate in the living room. He really wants to be friends with Max, He seems very fixated on being around other dogs. As an unneutered male I’m not sure if it’s to dominate them or to be friendly with them. Either way that is just not going to happen quickly… that is not how Max operates.

We learned we need to get a much bigger gate as Buddy jumped the gate we have. He also marked on my husband‘s recliner twice (he knew to go right for the Kings chair lol)

Today we will get a much bigger gate and I’m going to try to get some calming tablets for him. The Vet recommended dog chow to get him used to crunchy food.

He ate breakfast , canned science diet the vet gave as samples. I really don’t want to keep him solely on canned food it will affect his stool.

We survived the first night and today I want to focus on Max and Buddy getting more comfortable with one another.

July 26, 2018
I picked up Buddy and took him to the vet. He has two severe ear infections that will probably give him problems the rest of his life. He also has a skin infection between his paws. We have medication for everything. He was such a trooper and let the vet do anything they needed to do to him including cleaning out his ears!

We took him for a bath. Again a trooper! He ate dinner straight out of the can and on a paper plate. drank a lot of water and started to feel very comfortable in our yard.

We live on a corner so many people walk their dogs.He is very interested in seeing other dogs in a friendly sort of way.