Buster-sitting

I first learned of Buster when Super-Volunteer Bob forwarded me his shelter pictures. He looked sad and lost and so obviously a beautiful chocolate Lab. Don't ask me how these gorgeous purebred dogs end up in shelters. Clearly someone went to the trouble of buying him from what would appear to be a pretty darned good breeder, then didn't microchip him, didn't neuter him. And he was such a total Velcro dog that I was sure he didn't run away. He was a stray, so it's almost certain someone dumped him.

Here are some of his shelter pics:

Buster is only about 2 years old and he's nearly 80 pounds but he is just a big baby of a dog. He just wants to eat, play and be loved, and there is not an ounce of meanness in him. A couple of days after I got him, we were walking him in our neighborhood and he saw a squirrel. He forgot himself for a moment and bolted after the squirrel so fast that his collar slipped over his head. So there I was, in the middle of a cul-de-sac with a collarless dog I'd just met who didn't know the name we'd given him (which at the time was Winston). He was taking off at full speed toward the squirrel. I yelled "WINSTON!" without the slightest hope that it would do any good. Winston/Buster immediately stopped in his tracks, turned around, ran back and sat down right in front of me. I put his collar back on, tightened it, and off we went.

A couple from Gainesville who were on their honeymoon in Hawaii who had been talking about adopting a Lab for more than a year saw him on our website and called me during their honeymoon to ask about him. A week later, they adopted him and renamed him Buster. He has blossomed into a blocky-headed athletic boy with perfect house manners. He has visited several times while his owners are out of town and he really livens up the place. Even Matix and Didi (aka Fuddy and Duddy) dig him.

Buster today: