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Buster has gone to a wonderful new "forever" home with Ryan & Meg in Calgary, Alberta In December 2005, Meg wrote "Just wanted to send you a few pics of Buster. I can't believe it has been over a year since we drove out to to meet him and fell in LOVE with him. He has had a really busy year, trips out to BC to cross country ski last Christmas (on skis we were finally fast enough for him!), training for a 1/2 marathon (22 kms!) with me - such a super running buddy, flying to Ontario this past summer to visit my family and on and on. Buster LOVED the ducks on the lake this summer, he was determined to find a way to get to them without having to swim but gave in to his herding instincts.
As you see in the pics he became quite happy to ride in any kind of boat, be it paddle, motor or canoe! He pal-ed around with my parents senior dog Sam.
Buster has become very familiar with the couch (and our bed..) and is quite content to laze around in the day given he has had a good morning walk and waits for us to come home for his evening stroll. He is a super fan of the dog park and we recently ran into a blue merle Aussie that looks JUST like him (I think he was a little weirded out...lol.) We are leaving for Ontario again for Christmas of course WITH Buster! He he has been such an amazing addition to our family, we often wonder what we did before! I tell EVERYONE I know our adoption story and of the amazing work you all do. Thanks again for giving us the love of our lives!
Previously.... Meg told me that Buster will be "training" with her on her triathlon runs and possibly will be getting into some agility and maybe even herding with both of them! Ryan and Meg tell us that Buster is adapting to "city life", the noises are interesting to him and he loves to go running in the park with them! They often go to the mountains where Buster has taken a real liking to hiking and has a wonderful time learning about Elk "leftovers"! :-)
Meg told me "He is getting so lovey and knows the daily routine already! He wakes us up at 6:00 on weekends for his walk because that is what we do during the week! He has not had ONE accident in the house and is quite enjoying OUR bed - I think he has forgotten about his own!! He is very clever and learning quickly. We start obedience early September so we are looking forward to that - and maybe flyball after that as he has developed a great love for tennis balls!!! All of the neighbourhood dog owners are envious that we have such a gentle guy - he is every dogs favourite pal on our walk route. Very well mannered and polite. I have also had him out to run quite a bit - he is an excellent buddy - he keeps me on pace that is for sure! All I do is loop his leash over my wrist and away we go - no pulling or tugging you would think he had been doing it all his life! "
Buster was only here for a little while (he was given up because of his in-appropriate working of stock). I brought him here to find him a new home and to see how much socializing he was going to need since we'd been told he'd not been much of a people dog before, preferring to hide when anyone was around. When I picked him up he was quite happy visiting with the people who'd brought him down to me, with a cat, a Toy Poodle, a few kids and one of the biggest Rottweilers I've met. Herc, the Rottie, is a true gentle giant and tried his darndest to get Buster to play but Buster was quite happy sucking up the butt scratches and sweet talk that all the humans were doing! :-) When I got Buster home, we decided to introduce him to our crew one or two at a time, and chose Chyne to be his kennel mate, they're the same age and seemed about the same activity level and they hit it off right away. After an hour of getting acquainted they both settled down to eat dinner side-by-side! Since the weather was nice we decided to leave them out in the kennel, after a few good walks on leash, and they were still playing at 11 when I hit the bed.
This morning at 5 they were up and listening to the coyotes and helping our Great Pry keep them away with a little sing-song of their own! As you can see Buster has fit right in with our crew of dogs...he's a lovely boy and he and Chyne are having a blast together! Our two 8 month old pups are in the run beside them and I never realized how much fun four youngsters can have, even with a chain link fence separating them! :-) So far Buster has been a real gentleman walking on leash, he's greeted everyone he's met with a wiggly butt and a kiss and I think he's going to be a great little Aussie boy! Now we just have to teach him that it's ok to herd when he's asked to but, like everything else, nothing in life is free and he gets to work only when we tell him, not just whenever he feels like it.
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