Buddy is now a glowing 61/2 month old Black Labrador puppy. He has all the attributes that you would expect to see in a healthy puppy. Buddy is the reincarnation of the ever ready battery: he simply never stops; he just keeps going and going and going…..

Always a waggy tail with a pink tongue hanging out after tearing up the garden. Did you know that the bulbs of the ginger plants are a delicious doggy treat ?…not to mention what they look like half-chewed on the Persian carpet!  Sometimes he will not quite understand something and stands there with his head cocked to one side, his ears perked up and his tail tentatively wagging, while he tries to figure it out, and I just want to scoop him up and hug him.

A few more landmarks have been reached since the last article written six weeks ago. Buddy has finally learnt to bark properly: a big boy “woof”!  He doesn’t use it very often yet, and spends most of his time yapping in play with Chief. His first real “woof” was in church! Yes! Buddy went to church on October 4^th at St. Christopher’s Church, Lyford Cay, where Archdeacon Keith Cartwright (some of you might remember him at Christ the King in Freeport some years back), held our first “Blessing of the Animals”. For a first time effort there was a good turnout, and cats and dogs resisted the temptation to fight each other. Buddy was sitting up front with us when a cat came in; he looked somewhat amazed, then stood up and delivered one resounding woof! Looking very pleased with himself, he sat back down and never uttered another “word” during the ceremony. I wonder if this was the first ever Bahamian Blessing of the Animals? If any of you readers know of any other churches here in the Bahamas who have held a similar service please email me and tell me who and where, thank you.

He stills chews everything in sight, it matters little that I spend a small fortune in chew sticks and durable toys, he still prefers toilet paper, Kleenex boxes, my shoes, magazines, books, carpets, furniture, you name it. In the garden he has become a master gardener with some disastrous results, as I mentioned above, he has suddenly acquired a great liking for the bulb root of my beautiful (or they were beautiful) ginger plants lining the front walkway. He is an avid digger and nothing is too much trouble if the prize is one of these delicious roots, which are then brought into the house held high in his mouth as if a trophy. I guess in some ways it is a trophy! We just have to watch him and be firm and say no. When I say NO! I always try to have a toy of his to give him, and when he takes the toy I praise him for being such a good boy. He has also added “removal of baring banana tree” to his vast gardening repertoire. We had a nice big banana tree with a large developing hand of splendid bananas on it. This sight was just too much temptation for my Buddy, as he and Chief set to work one morning when left to their own devises in the garden and literally chewed down the tree! LOL!

He is also the self appointed, official, paper shredder of the household. Any receipt or interesting piece of paper in a wastepaper basket requires the immediate attention of “shredder Buddy”, now, if only I could teach him to put it back in the basket when he has finished his task!

His Olympic swimming challenges continue to keep him fit. He cannot be left out around the pool alone for more that a couple of minutes before returning soaking wet, with that ever wagging tale, and a big grin on his face. We had a guest over last week who was most amused to see how Buddy takes a running jump into the deep end of the pool, with a tremendous splash, and he then swims several laps before running over to me and shaking as much water as possible all over me. As always, he is totally disarming, with a grin on his little face and his tail beating time to some imaginary drum.

All of his shots have been done now until he is a year old. He is about to go onto “Grown up” dog food, which he prefers over his own Puppy food. He still eats three times a day. Most people by now have cut back to twice a day but he is so very active, and is very slim and streamlined that I have decided to keep the third meal in his schedule for a bit longer. He has two vitamin pills a day. He takes his heartguard monthly and I use the flea and tick drops on the back of his neck.

Buddy has a bazaar habit, every evening when we are watching TV; he will trot into the sitting room with an air of self importance and a look of concentration on his little face that warns me that he is on a mission. With one smooth jump he lands on the sofa and methodically proceeds to remove every cushion from the sofa, including the big seat cushions, when all cushions are on the floor he moves over to the other sofa and repeats the process. When this self appointed task is completed he leaves the room and goes to sleep in the entrance hall, content that he has achieved a task of great importance!

Having two puppies in the house is not unlike having two small children in the house; the moment the phone rings they are prancing around trying to get my attention, barking loudly. If I get up and go somewhere they are foot to foot behind me. When I close the bathroom door they sit faithfully outside the door waiting for me, impatiently.

He has weekly baths which of course he loves. Carla Wilson runs a pet grooming service here in Nassau where she will come to your house and “do” your pets at home. A couple of years ago I decided in deference to my age and my aching back I would indulge myself and have Carla wash them. Best decision I have ever made! In the summer I have them bathed weekly, somehow in the heat they have a tendency to smell quicker, probably all that digging in the earth in the garden to get cool. In the winter months, every second or third week appears to be sufficient. The funny thing with Buddy is that because he is so TOTALLY black you cannot see if he needs a bath or not, but he always feels so silky afterwards. Left to Buddy, he would immediately go swimming in the pool within minutes of being blow dried!

When we took Buddy to church last week we weren’t too sure how sociable he would be. I was concerned that he might be a little shy as he does not go out often and is never in a “group” situation. He was a little tentative at first, but was friendly to all the humans he met, once he had sniffed them he immediately wanted to jump up on them to say hello. We are working on the jumping up bit, it is hard to be too strict about that because he just looks so cute, however it is important that he understand NOT to do it because he could knock somebody off balance and accidentally cause them to get hurt.

We have been going on lots more car trips lately. Fortunately he does not suffer from car sickness as Chief does. He sits up in the seat watching everything with great interest. Last week I tried leaving him in the car for a few minutes whilst I went into the supermarket. I parked the car under a nice shady tree, cracked the windows enough for air, not enough to climb out, told him I would be right back, and left. I waited behind a parked car to make sure everything was okay… His little face was glued to the window, nose squashed against the glass, I couldn’t see it but I am totally sure that his tail was down, and he started “crying”. I couldn’t take it! I also feared for the upholstery in my car, so I went back to the car, drove home, dropped Buddy off and went back to get my groceries.

Sometimes when I am picking up after Buddy and Chief, I think to myself ”what a lot of work puppies are!” As I bend down to retrieve something or other that they never should have got hold of in the first place, I am surprised with a soft nose and a huge lick. When I stand up, the two of them are sitting to attention in front of me, looking like little doggy angels. I think to myself, “Yes, they are a lot of work, but the love and happiness that they bring into this house is worth so much more than the effort that goes into caring for them and cleaning up after them” I wouldn’t have life any other way!

As I write this “Buddy the Angel” is lying at my feel, in the deepest of sleeps. Peace reigns! He looks so sweet and innocent. I fear that he is gathering energy for another spate of gardening! I will try and tiptoe out of the room in hopes that he continues to sleep soundly!

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 3 dogs (soon to be 4), 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 a member of the board of the Bahamas Humane Society. Kim can be contacted at kimbva@coralwave.com