It might be said that Buckley has a Napoleon complex. He overcompensates for his diminutive size by barking wildly and displaying histrionic fierceness whenever he sees a big dog, especially a big black dog like William. I remember an early encounter with Buckley. William and I were on one side of Warren Street, Buckley and his humans were on the other. As soon as Buckley spied William, he went into an apoplexy of barking--jumping and growling and showing his teeth. William was unfazed by this ferocity.
Several weeks later, while on a Sunday evening walk, William and I were invited for a drink in a neighbor's fenced yard. Buckley and his humans were already there. Once inside the gate, I let William off his leash, poised to intervene if things went bad between William and Buckley. Off leash and up close though, Buckley's attitude toward William was entirely different. He wanted to play.
In human years, William was already a septuagenarian and Buckley was a hyperactive five-year-old, but William was game, and the two of them raced around the yard endlessly. Sometimes it appeared that Buckley was chasing William; at other times, William seemed to be chasing Buckley. At one point, William, desperate for a break, followed our hostess into the house, where he emptied the resident dog's water bowl and devoured his kibble. When I chided him for bad manners and brought him back outside, the romp with Buckley resumed. It didn't end until William, exhausted, tried to hide under my chair, and one of Buckley's humans took him home for a time-out.
Buckley's Back Story....
ReplyDeleteOne afternoon a few years ago I was in the alley behind my house (on the odd side of the 200 block of Warren)doing some form of maintenance and I was startled by a little tan dog, barking his head off, further up the alley across Third Street.
This little dog was looking toward someone's garage and going nuts with the barking. After a few minutes I decided to investigate (not knowing if he got locked out of his place or maybe if there was a Lassie issue like "Timmy's stuck in the well") and upon walking up the alley I saw this little dog do a 180 and bolt toward Warren St. I panicked and took off in a run hoping the little guy had sense enough to stop before he got to the main street. Once I got closer to the point where I saw him turn and run and I was able to see around the building that was blocking my view of him, I saw this scared little guy sitting in the parking lot alongside Tom Swope's house... he was quiet at this point.
As I approached him and knelt down so as not to frighten him any further, I spoke softly and he ran from 100 ft away and jumped into my lap, licking my face.
I looked around for any sign of an owner or an open gate and saw nothing. The little guy had a collar-which looked new but no other sign that he may have someone attached to him.
I wasn't sure what to do with him as taking him home meant subjecting him to our own Godzilla with a Napoleon complex but I didn't have any other choice. Fearing a territorial fight between the two I put the little guy in my car in the garage (as dogs tend to like being in a car)while I emailed and called around asking if anyone had lost a dog.
After the better part of the day with no one claiming him (and after Katrine of Animal Kind said she would help if need be) I introduced the little guy-whom we called Scruffy-to our Napoleon called Phineas.
Believe it or not, the two were complete pals! Wrestling and chasing and playing tug o' war with the toys. It was amazing to see since Scruffy was not neutered and since Phineas had always had such an issue with other dogs-especially male dogs.
We were so pleased that the two were getting on so well that we had decided to keep him. However, after a couple of days we discovered Scruffy had marked his territory all over our house. Unfortunately, the little prince had to find a new home.
With the help of Katrine he was taken to NYC to be neutered (and I think micro chipped)and he eventually made his way back to Hudson where he was adopted by his current humans.
Buckley, as he's now known, is a sweet little guy who to this day will have nothing more to do with Phineas...and visa versa.
It's strange how dogs can be....
So glad he's happy and healthy and loved.
best,
michael harris
Is this the little guy that used to hang out at Gauthier's (Jack Hart's old place)? If so, he's got to be at least 10 years old by now.
ReplyDelete--p
Nope. Not the same dog. I remember the dog you're thinking of, Peter--similar size, color, and aggressive attitude toward William, but not the same dog.
ReplyDelete