The last few months have focused on Zinnia, at least the dog-wise part of my blog. Several people have written to express concern about Bud, to wonder if we still love him, and to ask if he has a good life.

I am somewhat focused on Zinnia right now and will stay that way, at least for a while. But I’m happy to write about Bud and even happier to be living with him.

Bud (formerly named Buddy in Arkansas) has been with us for 18 months now. The first six to eight months were tumultuous and painful, I made my usual slew of mistakes and misjudgments, but I think my stubbornness is greater than my stupidity, and with dogs, I usually figure it out.

Bud is Boston Terrier, a rescue from Southern Arkansas.

He got himself into big trouble.

A dog angel named Carol Johnson and members of the regional chapter of her rescue group, Friends of Homeless Animals (FOHA) responded to a call about a Boston Terrier locked up in an outdoor pen, the sole living dog survivor exposed to the weather without cover, starved, and suffering from a near-lethal case of heartworm and exposure.

Carol and her fellow rescuers bought Bud for $150 to save him and brought him to a local vet, a good-hearted man who spent the next four or five months treating Bud and bringing him back to life. Carol put a photo up on FOHA’s website, which I saw weeks after our first Boston Terrier puppy, Gus, died of megaesophagus, a fatal wasting disease.

I called the vet to ask about Red and he said: “Bud is a good boy, a nice dog.” He is.

Bud cost more than $1,000 in medical costs and fees, which I agreed to pay. He ended up costing as much as Zinnia. Like her, he was worth it.

Gus couldn’t process food and was slowly starving to death. It was an awful thing to see; we finally put him down after months of unusual recipes and medications.

Initially, we let Bud roam the pasture. He loved tearing off into the woods in search of small creatures.

But had never been trained, he marked every piece of furniture in the house, crapped all over the kitchen and bathroom, chased after the barn cats, the chickens, the donkeys, and the sheep.

He instantly befriended Red, just as Red got sick and began to struggle.

Bud was a great friend to Red; he fended off the rams and sheep who started to challenge him. Bud wouldn’t allow it. He loves other dogs, at least ours.

When he first came, Bud tended to roam in the woods and march looking for chipmunks, moles, mice, birds nesting in the marsh. I trained him every morning for six months, and slowly, it began to take.

We stopped bringing him out to the woods, he liked it, but it was cranking him up, and he had too much testosterone as it was.

Bud has the run of the house and our fenced-in yard outback. He rides around with us in the car, which he loves, but is a family dog now, an indoor dog.

He loves to chew all day on marrow bones and hard dog treats. He loves to put his head in my lap to scratching; he loves to spend evenings curled up with Maria while she reads.

He sleeps in a crate in our bedroom. He plays with Zinnia as often as he can, and is not the least bit intimidated by her growing size. Once a week, I ask each of my dogs, “do you have a good life?”

I believe Bud does.

Raised voices and sticks sometimes terrify him,  and he is afraid of me if I get angry or upset, so we are careful to be calm and quiet around him. Day by day, he seems to feel safer and less wary. He is a happy dog now, he dances with us, and barks and wiggles when we come into the house.

He loves the wood stoves and stretches out in front of them and rumbles. He is a champion gas passer and can stink up a room in seconds.

Bud is a happy dog now; he has a good life. Unlike the border collies, he’s a family dog, not a one-person dog. He has no fear of bigger things and catches a mole from time to time in the back yard. He loves to hunt chipmunks, but so far, unsuccessfully.

He has been especially gracious and welcoming to Zinnia. He is a cuddle-bug who spends a lot of time being cuddled. I love Bud for many reasons, but a big one is his generous and forgiving spirit.

If ever a dog had a reason to be standoffish and even aggressive, it’s Bud. He never is.  He is a forgiving and loving animal.

His big heart nearly killed him, but I think it also saved his life.