Our Dogs
These are our three dogs.
Buster
Buster is our little boy. :) Well, he's not very little! We think he's our oldest. We think he's a Pitbull mixed with something like an American Bulldog or Mastiff, as he is much larger than your typical pitbull. He's also got a much thinker tail and has more jowls than most pits. He has a beautiful brindle coat. He was fought. He was found in a ditch, left for dead, and he has several broken teeth. My wife, Julie, first got him when she volunteered at an animal shelter back in 2001. She had to give him up for a while due to landlords complaining, but she got him back later.
Buster was very sad when he lost his buddy, Duke, a Sheltie, who passed away in January, 2004. After that, he was a basket case, and developed separation anxiety when left alone. He was a handful for a while, including when Julie and I first dated and in the first year of our marriage. Eventually, he settled down, and he's a great dog. He's getting up in years, and we had to have a tumor removed from his groin last year, and he's developed arthritis.
I know Pitbulls are still very controversial, but Buster is very loyal, loving, and gets along with every animal in the house. He will bark at people he doesn't trust, but he's harmless. When I first met Buster, he didn't stop kissing me all night. It was love at first sight. He's got a great personality, and he loves kids.
McKenzie (1999? - July 1, 2010)
McKenzie was kind of a wedding gift. We got her six days after we got married in December, 2004. She is a large Shetland Sheepdog, also called a Sheltie. We love her, but, unlike most Shelties, she's not a herder, not agile, and isn't too bright. She is cute, though. :) She was found in a field during hunting season. She's always reacts to loud popping noises, so you can imagine how she is during fireworks season. In her last two years, she lost nearly all of her hearing, so fireworks and loud noises were no longer a problem. Her most favorite thing to do is to roughhouse.
McKenzie got sick over a few months with kidney and liver problems, losing 12 pounds in her last two months. She finally had to be put to sleep July 1, 2010.
Stella
Stella is our newest dog. We picked her up in June, 2006. Stella is very happy go lucky. She is also deaf. We didn't know she was deaf when we found her in the Cuyahoga County Animal Shelter. We believe Stella is older, although we aren't sure how old. We believe she's a Lab American Eskimo mix. Her coat is Lab-like, but white, and she's smaller than a lab and larger than an American Eskimo.
Stella is a scavenger. She will sniff and sniff and look for any food. She's also one to steal another dog's food. She can get hyper, too, ("Feed me, feed me!!!") although she's usually a calming influence for the other two dogs.
