Buddha

Two years and two bulldogs after beginning our collective dream of having a dog, Danny and Heather began yearning for a puppy of their own. It had been an expensive summer of vet visits and antibiotics and my journey of getting Griffin well was only just beginning. Stressed out and overwhelmed, I was't sure what they were thinking, but then, that's what everyone said when I brought my two slobbering, shedding angels home.

Heather's client's daughter (Heather and Danny are both personal trainers) had a puppy she had to get rid of, and they decided to bring him home for the weekend to see if he would work out with our family.

Olivia, Griffin and I arrived home from the park to find a 15 pound, wide eyed, shaking little puppy, huddled in Heather's arms. "No possible way this will EVER work" was all I could think. 110 pounds of curious bulldog charged towards him and I was certain that he would get swallowed whole if either of them got the opportunity. Both Olivia and Griffin are very friendly to other dogs, love to play and are so incredibly sweet natured, however, they are each 55 pounds of solid muscle, with enormous strong mouths, and yet, they have little concept of their size or strength.

Heather held the tiny, wide eyed little guy as Danny and I each held back a bulldog and let them check him out without accidentally crushing him. Both Olivia and Griffin were super excited and very interested. They climbed into his tiny kennel and tasted all of him toys. I just stood back and shook my head and watched as Danny and Heather fell in love with the puppy they'd had for an hour. There was no way they were giving him back at the end of the weekend, but I wasn't sure how we were ever going to monitor all three of them 24/7 so as to keep the little guy alive. Danny and Heather weren't worried- he was used to being in a kennel 8 hours a day, so that would be the plan for when we we all at work.

The former owner said he was a pug/terrier mix. What she hadn't mentioned was that he had the heart of a lion, and identified himself as a great dane. Within a few hours, his nerves calmed down and he was ready to show the bulldogs who was boss. He gathered up all of their toys, claiming them as his own. He joined in their wrestling matches, inserting his tiny body in between the crashing, sumo style battles that happened on an hourly basis. He fearlessly teased them, biting their ears and grabbing hold of their joules, stretching their lips out as far as he could pull them before their patience waned and they chased after him.

His speed and agility were no match for Olivia and definitely not wheezing, barely mobile Griffin. Like a caffeinated squirrel, he sprinted around the yard, ducking under the patio furniture, jumping over things, taunting his slower moving cousins. Olivia and Griffin were friendly, but also surprisingly gentle. They wrestled with him, wrapping their wide open mouths almost entirely around his skinny little body, and when they ran after him, you could hear the loud chomping sound when their jaws snapped at him. But even when they managed to get a hold of him, they never chomped or squished or swallowed him whole like I so feared.

The kennel that he had spent so much of him time in was forgotten after a few hours of being in our house. By bedtime, he was attached to his new parents and they were head over heals in love with him. When he sprinted into their room, leaping through the air like a flying squirrel and dive bombed into their bed, he didn't just slide under the covers to claim his spot between them, but he claimed his place in our lives. September 13, 2010. Buddha was home.

Over the next few days, it was clear that Buddha's self image was changing slightly. He seemed to shrug his shoulders into a beefy haunch and often, we noticed that his bottom jaw was sticking out a little more than usual. He stopped nibbling his food and learned to scarf, chomp and rapidly destroy anything edible. He learned to demand a taste of any meat that was cooked in the kitchen and he started drooling for no reason. Soon after joining the family, Buddha began dreaming that one day, he would grow big and strong and he too, would be a bulldog.

We started referring to Buddha as "a wannabe bulldog", as in, "...all bulldogs and wannabe bulldogs, go outside...." "...all bulldogs and wannabe bulldogs, it's time to eat...."

And then one day, as the six of us traipsed through the dog park- an overly excited squirrel, an uppity-way- too-cool-for-anyone white bully, a wheezing old man bully and the three crazy owners trying to manage all of them, I realized that we were a sight to be seen! A group such as ours wasn't just your average family, we were special, and we needed a name!

And thus, The Bulldog Brigade was named.

This is a blog about our adventures. Three dogs, three owners, living together in slobber and harmony...