Buddy!!!!    D O W N!….. Buddy!!!! No, No Buddy, Nooooooooo!!!!!

I can be heard daily with my voice, a plaintive cry, a strangled memory of what it used to be, trying to get my adolescent puppy to do what I tell him… This is quite definitely NOT the easiest age, but at the same time, it sure is cute.

Buddy still has not really learnt how to give his human proper “dog” kisses. He thrusts his sweet, square little face up to you pushing with all his might and then he licks you. He is so earnest and determined to show you his intense puppy love that it is the most endearing and comical of displays of affection.

When I come home from the supermarket a mere 20 minutes out of the house Buddy is so overjoyed to see me, that he really cannot contain himself, he leaps in the air trying desperately to kiss me, hug me, jump up in my arms, anything, he is besides himself with delight….And if I think that is something, you should see him when I return for a trip, having been away from home for a week or more.

He has developed a most endearing little habit recently. When he hears me turn on the taps to fill the bath tub, he rushes into the bath room and stations himself on the step up to the tub, preferably lying on top of my bath towel. He sits there diligently and watches the bath fill. Once the tub is full and the water turned off, he always, tastes the water!!! Whoa there Buddy!!!! It’s hot!!!!   Once he has established that it is safe, he returns to his sentry position on the step and keeps me company for my entire bath.

He is still an avid gardener and there is only one garden area in our yard where we can leave him and Chief “safely”, I say safely because there is not much landscaping left there, they have re-arranged that section of the garden to their liking and we have decided that it would be pointless to keep trying to replant. The other sections of the yard, he can only go out in, if he is accompanied by a HUMAN adult.

Nothing gives Buddy more pleasure that going for a swim with his boys; his leaps and bounds in and out of the pool are simply amazing. When the weather is particularity cold he appears to have the common sense to stay away from the water. On the warmer days when one of the boys are here they go out and brave water too cool for me swimming, jumping, running and catching, simply enjoying being young ands agile. I sit on the porch with a stack of beach towels on my lap, and marvel at nature and the never ending energy of youth. When they have finished, Buddy runs over to be dried, he love being toweled down and playfully tugs at the towel and turns the whole event into yet another game.

After the swim and play, and once dried, Bubby will head into the house and throw himself down on the floor and fall into the deepest of sleeps, his little paws flaying around, his nose twitching and little grunt like woofs come out of his closed mouth ! Is he re-enacting his recent playtime, I wonder to myself! No Bahamian born dog could possibly dream or running in open fields chasing rabbits and squirrels as they have never experienced that! A penny for your thoughts and dreams little Buddy, if Buddy could talk, he would surely tell me that they are worth much more than a penny! When he falls into those deep sleeps he is like a small child, you can move him with your foot or climb over him and he will not stir! But just let the door bell ring and he is up in a flash rushing to the door to defend and protect his home and his humans.

He can be demanding to a fault, loving to excess, sweet as the sweetest puppy on earth and, yes, Buddy CAN still be naughty.

Only a week or so ago he shocked me to the core when all of a sudden, out of the blue, he lifts his leg on my bedspread. I shrieked in horror, I just could not believe that our well house trained little Buddy would even think or doing that, let alone actually do that. I was cross and Buddy got his first spank EVER on his bottom, with a very cross “mummy voice”. “Buddy, bad boy, that is a very bad dog!” I told him, He slunk down on the floor, head between his paws and looked up at me with his enormous big brown eyes. But I was not going to be taken in, I was firmly CROSS, I marched him down the stairs and out the door for a walk in the garden. ONE hour later the same thing downstairs in the dining room! “Buddy, have you gone mad?” I asked. Same scenario, more cross words, no spank, it didn’t work last time, so this time; I talked y him….I explained why this was not acceptable behaviour. I promise you this little dog listened, serious and quietly. “Mad,” you say! Probably, but you know that was a couple of weeks ago and he hasn’t done it again!

Buddy and Chief go out early with my husband, I sleep later, when they come upstairs, if I am asleep, they are like two small kids. This walk quietly into the room and put their heads on the bed, if I react I am jumped on and half licked to death. If I do not move, they then prod me with their nose, as if to say “Is she awake?” when I don’t respond, they go to their beds right next to my side of the bed and curl up, within minutes the room is resounding with their gentle snores !

Another thing that I have noticed about Buddy more and more lately, and, I have read about in books about Labradors, is that he very often places hi mself between me and the door, so that he has a view of what I am doing and where I might go. I have to really Tipp toe to get out of the room without him waking up.

There is undoubtedly one thing, that out weighs all other things, about Buddy; he is a very faithful friend. Always there for his humans no matter what time of day, a lick and wag, a heavy head on your foot, a smiling puppy face looking up at you with trust written all over it. I am grateful for our naughty little Buddy, he will grow up soon, and just like I miss those sticky little human finger prints on the fridge door, I will miss finding my shoes all over the place!!!!!

Buddy’s next article will be on his First Birthday!

About the author: Kim Aranha grew up in the Berry Islands with her first dog, a beloved potcake named “Friendly” (who was anything but!).  First educated at home, and then in boarding school in Switzerland, Kim moved to Rome, Italy in 1974 to pursue a career in the dramatic arts and ended up working as an interpreter.  She moved back to The Bahamas in 1980, and now lives in Nassau with her husband Paul, and their two teenaged sons.  Kim has 4 dogs, 5 fish (1 Beta, 4 Goldfish), 10 turtles (6 babies, 4 adolescents), 1 Asian box turtle and 4 Budgerigars. Her idea of relaxing is being home to take care of all her pets. Kim is President of the board of the Bahamas Humane Society. Kim can be contacted at kimvba@coralwave.com