This day, there was a family nearby with a very tiny daughter. She was maybe four years old. She spotted Buddy and had her eye on him; first chance she got, she darted away from her parents and ran right to Bud. She stopped as he stood to meet her, and she began gently rubbing his back with her fingertips, giggling as she did. I gave the parents an “It’s OK” nod. And they just sat back and watched their daughter pet Buddy.
Only a few minutes later, a large group of people was coming down a nearby walking path; it was a wedding party, so they were a little noisy. Buddy perked up. He didn’t like big crowds of strangers moving toward his people. Now, while he’s smart, perhaps smarter than most, he is still just a dog, so he didn’t know that they were just following the walking path and not actually coming toward us. So he began barking at them. The bark was loud…and it was serious. He was making sure they knew not to come our way.
The little girl’s father, however, somehow thought Buddy was getting upset with his daughter, or perhaps just getting riled up, so dad felt it important to very quickly dash down the small park hill and grab his daughter from the gnarling,
The dad bounded up from his spot by his wife and ran the several feet toward his daughter…and quickly found himself facing a diving Buddy Rhodes!
Bud had jumped at the Dad, to protect the little girl from this onrushing man, and Bud’s jump scared dad enough that his front foot slipped out from under him! On his back now, and frozen to the ground, dad just looked up at Buddy, who now stood triumphantly over him, ensuring he didn’t move.
I gave Buddy a tap, told him, “It’s OK, Bud.” My dog stepped back.
Dad, having just about pissed himself, tried to explain he thought he should grab his daughter. Me: “As you might have realized, the barking was Buddy protecting your daughter, not getting excited or about to hurt her.” His fear turned to laughter as he realized this was the case. Mom yelled to us, “That’s what I told him, but he panicked!”
Life with Buddy.
Another #humpday🐋, another tale about my old #Rescue, BUDDY RHODES!🐾
I took Bud to the park, & this cute little girl escaped from her parents to pet him. This is what happened NEXT!...
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