This is the first time in my dog life that I’ve had a combination quite like Zinnia and Bud, a Lab and a Boston Terrier, a big lovable dog, and a fierce and sweet little family dog.

I like the combination. Maria loves to curl up with Bud at night when she reads, and Zinnia slips easily into my life and is with me much of the time. Our therapy work is going better than I imagined at this point, and Bud is a great pal to me and to Maria.

Fate is very much Maria’s dog, she is almost always with her.

Both dogs – Zinnia and Bud are sweet, and Bud is especially sweet to the family. Fate is sweet to us but doesn’t worry much about other dogs.

Zinnia is sweet to everybody. Bud is a hunter, Zinnia is a sniffer and lover. Bud hates to be outside in rain or cold, Zinnia loves to be outside in rain or cold.

The two get along easily and famously. They are always together, eating bones and snacks side by side, wrestling, playing tug-of-war.

Zinnia is always by my side when I’m working, and she comes with me in the car now wherever we got. She doesn’t mind the cold at all.

Yet Zinnia is happy to go out with me or into the car, and Bud is very happy to curl up in front of the woodstove and be warm. They love to be together, they love to be apart.

When Zinnia comes into the house, she roots me out, leaps into my lap and showers me with kisses. Then she hops off and gets down to business – playing and sleeping and chewing on bones.

They are a great combination. Fate, like most border collies, follows Maria around, hoping for work or walks in the woods. She is a working dog in her own way and doesn’t play a whole lot. Red never played that I saw, not once in his life with us.

Bud and Zinnia fit, yin and yang. There has never been a troublesome or difficult moment between them.

The scrappy little Boston Terrier and the Love Dog II are a good match.