Welcome our new family member, Ninja Buddy

Ninja Buddy

We adopted Ninja Buddy on 7 Dec 2013 from the Salem Animal Rescue League, Salem, New Hampshire. He was found on the streets of Methuen, Massachusetts. He spent the past two years in two separate shelters. He had two previous failed adoptions.

He is an Italian Greyhound Terrier mix. His personality is well divided between the two breeds. He has the shyness of an Italian Greyhound with a great need of alone time. Let him come to you and you will not see the growling Terrier side of his personality. 

We named him Ninja Buddy as a way of keeping his name given by the shelter because he was all black and my husband that kept calling him Buddy. I think of it as very appropriate name for a dog who needs to walk the entire perimeter of our house every morning and night; comes inside after the walks and cuddles up next to you. 

In the past eight weeks we have enjoyed his little nuances of adapting to his new home. This first night he joined us under the covers. Yet for the first week every little noise he heard he would wake up. Very little sleep was had by us during that time. It was like having a new baby in the house all over again. He sleeps through the night now.

My husband teases he is in the witness protection program because he doesn't like his picture taken. every time he see a camera or cell phone he runs away to the other room. The photograph above was taken at the shelter before adoption. This photograph was taken on the first snow since we adopted him. He just stopped and waited about a minute. Then went behind the shovel and did his business. The next time out her decided he would venture a little further. Now he want to go out in the snow and chase snowballs. He will capture one and carry around during his walk. He will then eat it.

Ninja Buddy has settled in very nicely to our family giving many loving tongue kisses, singing to the music, and talking up a storm when he wants something. 

We had not planned on getting any new pets after our two most recent ones died in 2013. We miss Yoda and Tess very much and think of them often. Ninja Buddy has filled a void we didn't realize was even there. When we first adopted him we were concerned that he had health issues. He was displaying similar behavior like our Yoda did, who died of a fast growing brain stem tumor this past fall. Our daughter stated it well; "You are giving a dog a loving home, even if he is with you a short while. Would you want to spend your last days in a shelter, no matter how loving the shelter volunteers maybe?" Ninja Buddy has a clean bill of health. the symptoms he was showing turned out to be an every day common cold.

If you get a chance to adopt a pet, please do. They bring comfort and joy into the household, along with plenty of laughter.

We warmly welcome Ninja Buddy to the family, who by the way is sitting in my lap as I type this. Stay tuned for updates on his progress. I hope to get a video of him singing to the music. When I do you can be sure it will be posted.