Introducing Buster

“Here’s the story of Buster….

In late 2014, three weeks before his 15th birthday, we suddenly lost our beloved dog, Bulldozer. We were devastated and spent a week mourning the loss of our beloved furkid. At the time, Charlie was about 5mths old and was keeping us very busy (not to mention keeping us up at night!) and we spent many hours discussing whether we could manage a puppy as well. Before the week was out we had agreed that we couldn’t even consider continuing life as a family without a dog and we wanted to get a puppy (rather than an adult dog) so that Charlie and the pup could grow up together.

Bulldozer was an English Staffordshire Bull Terrier (aka a Staffy) and he was the best dog ever…loyal, smart, sweet and super affectionate. Staffies are known for being people dogs that are awesome with kids but, if they’re not handled well, they can be aggressive. So we agreed that we would get another Staffy but, with a small baby, we wanted to make sure we knew that we knew the dog’s background. We wanted to make sure we got a Staffy who’s parents that weren’t aggressive as it reduces the risk of the pup being aggressive. So, we began the hunt for a Staffy puppy. Staffy pups are highly sort after and many people purchase pups before the Mummy Staffy has even become pregnant. It was mid November and we were looking to get a puppy before Christmas…not an easy thing to do! So, after a week of searching and negotiation we found a reputable breeder in Taree (north coast of NSW) who had a pup that was for sale. So, that weekend, we hopped in the car and took Charlie to visit this puppy and his family. We arrived, met the breeder and all his dogs and spent an hour or so playing with this sweet little puppy and introducing him to Charlie. We went for a walk and discussed whether this was the puppy for us. We decided he was and so we brought him home.

Buster was born on 11 Sept 2014 (so he’s 1 and a bit) and we should have called him ‘Chewy’. He has chewed every toy he has ever been given into tiny little bits. He now steals things out of the recycling and chews them into little bits. Every now and then, he steals one of our shoes and chews them up too. When he’s not chewing things into bits, he’s sitting under Charlie’s high chair waiting for food to drop from above and I’m not sure who loves it more, Buster or Charlie. We often catch Charlie gleefully dropping food from her plate onto the flaw and giggling as Buster eats it up off the floor…needless to say, Charlie and Buster are best friends and the bond they share is not only obvious, but beautiful.” by Sarah