Bud spent the first two years of his life in a small outdoor prison, most of it in solitary confinement. I am not about to keep him in another one. A number of people have expressed the perfectly legitimate and heartfelt concern that Bud, being a small dog, ought not to be let loose near the woods or too far away from us.

I understand the concern, but I am not going to embrace them. Bud, who saw so little of the world loves to walk down the hill and sniff around the woods and open pasture and pond. I stay up on the hill and keep an eye on him.

This morning,  while Maria was shooting her own video, I called him to come to me, and he responded quickly and enthusiastically. His recall is very good. He then clashed a bit with Socks, one of our sheep, and demonstrated his poise and fearlessness with the animals.

Bud does not back down, pure and simple, a good trait for a dog bred to hunt and kill rats. I am happy he has a good recall this far, and I am not going to live a life of warnings with my dogs. I am warned daily about shoes, sweaters, woods, other dogs, heat, cold, and rain.

People tell me their horror stories about their dogs and cats, I’m sorry for them, but they are not me. Should some animal rush out of the woods and grab Bud, I will be very sad. I will also be happy that Bud got to life a life of freedom and openness. He is a Happy Bud, you can see it in this photo, he is loving his life, and I am happy we could give that to him.

But is not made of crystal. He does not run off for miles in the woods. We all take  risks in life, every time we get into a car, take a plane, or cross the street. We each have to decide if we want to live a life of fear and caution, or not. I don’t. If I listened to all the warnings I get in a week, I wouldn’t get out of bed or buy a sandwich.

And my dogs would never leave the house. I respect other people’s choices, and I hope they will do the same for me. I never tell anyone else what they should do.