aka Buster Bill, B-Boy, Busterooney,
Busterooneytooney
Buster entered my life one Spring morning at the park
two blocks from my house. I was walking my other two
dogs, and there he was, a 5-month-ish puppy hanging around
the softball diamond, skittish and scared. He was curious
about Chelsea and Shadow, but avoided my approaches.
I told myself that he had probably gotten out of someone’s
yard, and they would be looking for him soon (yeah, yeah,
yeah) so I left him there. But I thought about him all
day, and finally went back to the park that afternoon.
As fate would have it, there he was, trying to reach
up to the drinking fountain by the dugout. Of course
he couldn’t reach it, and struck quite a pathetic
pose. That did it. I used Chelsea to lure him into my
car and he came home with us.
From the first, Buster demonstrated a gentle,
calm demeanor that would impress everyone who
met him. At first, when I would reach to pet
him, he would sit stock-still and look away.
It took quite some time for him to realize that
no one was going to hit him and that he was not
only allowed in the house, but on the couch,
as well.
Special Memories
When he would fall asleep sitting up, leaning against
the cushions of the couch, his head nodding, unwilling
to give the day up.
Splicing so many garden hoses from his puppy chewing
that I joked that my 75’ hose had been reduced
to 25’ due to Buster’s teething.
The look in his eyes when he realized he could actually
vocalize, and that it would be rewarded. My attempts
at building confidence worked slowly but surely to
create a myriad of attention-seeking behaviors that
I would have looked aghast at if my clients told me
they promoted such behaviors.
The fun he had being the star at public clicker training
demonstrations.
Training him to do something he had been taught never
to do: Putting his feet up on a table. This was for
a photo
shoot for a library book donation project. He handled
it like a pro, and the photo was run in local papers.
The time he threw up on the start line at an agility
trial due to performance anxiety (I let him transition
to the cheering section after that!).
The countless adolescent dogs and puppies he taught
manners over his career. His gentle, but firm insistence
on proper canine greeting etiquette was an invaluable
lesson for many boisterous, ill-mannered pups.
His love affair with Sandy Mae, which caused me to
renege on placing Sandy Mae in another home after initially
agreeing only to foster the little scamp.
Ringing his doorbell, at the beginning to let me know
he had to go outside, but more often than not, to announce
his needs … for chewies, for attention, for,
for, for …. That bell became known as Buster’s
Needs Bell.
The look on his face as he proudly brought me a huge, putrified,
dead bullfrog he found while we camped at Lindy’s
Landing in October 2004, a short two months after he
completed a 6-month round of chemotherapy for lymphosarcoma.
This frog was so big, that the back legs stuck out
of one side of Buster’s mouth and the front legs
out the other. Where or where was my camera?
Up to the end, his happy voice announcing
the presence of Charm, his favorite puppy in
the world. Grandpa Buster will be missed by
that little guy.
His stoicism throughout four years of various health
issues.
Leaning into me when I needed a hug, absorbing my
petting like it was the last time he’d ever feel
so good.
Tributes:
“Well
I can hear Buster now, telling everybody how he picked
up this crazy chick in a park ...”
“For Buster, a beautiful mind and a beautiful
soul … somewhere over the rainbow.”
“Buster was a special boy. He had a full and
wonderful life with you. No one could have given him
a better life than you!”
“Buster is not gone … just gone ahead.
Energy can neither be created nor destroyed, it just
changes forms. Buster will be thanking you for all
eternity.”
“This is the absolute worst part
of loving dogs - having to let them go so they can be
free from pain. But it is also the most loving
and unselfish thing, too. (Just to let you know,
I've always admired you for deciding to put your training
on hold to spend more time with Buster after he got sick.)
Buster is now at the Bridge, healthy and running
happily with Chelsea and all the other dogs waiting for
their special people.
“I really liked Buster and was always happy
to give him back scratches as he leaned into me in doggy
ecstasy!! I'm glad you brought him to class so
much so I could get to know him a little. (He was
the first one I'd greet every time.) He had a quiet
dignity all his own and was a special guy.”
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