Bud is the second small dog I’ve ever owned, the first, Gus, died when he was quite young.. Bud was rescued out of an outdoor pen in Southern Arkansas where his pen mate, a pug, had died of exposure.

There was no roof or shelter from the heat or cold. I think Bud partially survived eating feces, which he has only recently stopped doing.

Bud was in terrible shape when a neighbor called Friends Of Homeless Animals (FOHA), who went and bought him for $150. I bought him for $1,000, he had a lot of medical bills – exposure, heartworm, dehydration, starvation.

An angel named Carol Johnson brought him back to life.

He is healthy now and his favorite thing is to wrestle with Zinnia, he can flip her over on her back when he gets cranked up.

There are some symptoms of his trouble – if I pick up anything heavy near him, he runs and hides.

His eyes are soft and soulful, I think I can sometimes see some sadness there.

Otherwise, he is fearless and we love him. I think I will always have a Boston Terrier from now on, he is a surprisingly wonderful companion both to Zinnia and Fate.

Whenever I take a nap, I wake up with Bud in my lap snoring. He loves to ride in the car with us when we go do our chores. In the warm weather, he stays close to the house, and always near shade, he is sensitive to heat.

Almost every day, somebody e-mails me who is worried about him because they haven’t seen him on the blog for a day or two, I think they think I have neglected or abandoned him in some way.

I can’t of course, take photos of all the animals on the farm every day. It has to be natural. I appreciate the concern for him, he is a sweet soul and has earned some loving and easy time.

Bud always finds the sun, wherever it is. That’s when I can catch him and get his portrait.