Beast Friends

There is a dog in our neighborhood that Piper and I have made friends with.

He lives in one of the neighboring houses, and I don't know what his name is.   I call him Buddy, or Bud.  Or Pup.

He's an outdoor dog, and he comes to his fence to say hello when I take my trash to the alley. 

Buddy is a big boy - a bully mix of some sort - maybe fully bully.  He's mostly white, but has a few black spots.He comes up to about my hip.   He has a huge hippo head, as that breed does.  He rarely barks.  He never barks at me. 

He doesn't bark at Piper, either.  He wants to play with her.  For the first month or so, Piper just ignored him. I don't know if she was nervous or what.  Now she goes to the fence and they sniff each other quietly.

They have a sign on their fence, but it's not meant for us.  Or anyone, honestly.


The other day, Buddy's people were out and had their back gate open.  He wandered out and stuck his big hippo head in the gap in our fence to say hi to Piper.  She wandered over, sniffed him, then came to get me to see him.  He had wandered back home by the time I got there.  I wonder what it's like to have a dog who isn't a flight risk?

Sometimes, when I take the trash and recyclables to the alley, I snag a few milk bones for Buddy.  He comes to the gate, and I feed them to him.  He takes them gently, and because I have the minis, they are gone in a flash.

Like many a bully, he has very sad eyes.  I try not to anthropomorphize dogs too much, but I do think he knows he could be living with people who might appreciate him more.  I hope that he knows I think he's a sweet boy.

When I was living in my second apartment, the family that lived above me had a neglected dog.  A boxer mix.  I didn't know her name, but I called her Noxema because of this smear of white fur across her nose.  I worried about that dog.  She lived on their back screened in deck, 24-7.  

They moved away, and I think Animal Control took the dog.  I don't know.  I worried about her a lot.  She was sweet.

I know that a second dog would be a nightmare, and I would like to think that Buddy is going to be OK, and have a good life with his family.  That said, I do have daydreams about taking him on as our dog - having one black dog with white patches, and one white dog with black patches.

You know, it's the little things sometimes that make the best daydreams.

And I'll keep an eye on my friend, keep sneaking him milk bones and telling him he's a good boy.

Because that's what good neighbors do.



 



Comments

Christopher said…
Too many people seem to get dogs on a whim without considering the responsibility. I had a coworker who regularly complained about her neighbors complaining about her dog being loose. The simple answer would seem to be to not let her dog run loose...
Anyway I'm glad Buddy has at least one person who tells him he's a good boy, and that Noxzema had someone.