Buffy Matilda Chubin Brixie

Jan. 15, 2001 to April 27, 2015
Buffy was one of two pups in a litter rescued from a kill shelter in the central valley. We always thought she was a lovely mix. Then we had her dna tested and found out she was half-Ausrtralian cattle dog, mixed with at least 12 other kinds of dogs, including pomeranian and terrier.

We thought she resembled a small golden, and she had the temprement of a border collie. What a sweet, lovable girl. We thank her fosters, for naming her and caring for her after rescue. She was picked up by Second Chance rescue and we adpoted her from the Marin Humane Society.

Berry, my daughter and Wayne, my husband, spotted her while I was in Salt Lake City on a business trip. My boss told me I was being laid off at the end of the month. Berry told me on the phone about her soft fur and lovable nature and I said sure, go ahead and adopt her. We had already been interviewed and approved for the adoption. By the time I got home, she was there.

It was overwhleming at first, because a new puppy is like a new baby needing constant attention. We took turns taking her out to pee and poop every few hours. She was put in her crate every night and we kept her in the bathroom, cordoned off with a babygate to contain the accidents when we weren't supervising her. Every time we took her out, we gave her a treat when she came inside the house. In about two weeks, she was potty-trained.

Berry and I signed up for a puppy training class at the Humane Society. You bring your dog, they give a lecture and then you go and do training in a big arena with instructors. We took another puppy class and then Family Dog Training. Everyone is the house was supposed to use the exact same commands and also use hand gestures for each command. Buffy was smart enough to know to behave most of the time but when she could get away with it she would wander off.

Buffy had some interesting quirks and habits. She was vocal and liked to bark quite a bit in the beginning. Once Andrew our neighbor from 2 townhouses down came over and asked us to keep her quiet, Buffy was disturbing him. That was before the training class started. We used a tie-down and time-outs to train her to stop barking. We set up a routine where we eat first, then she ate. We fed two meals a day as our vet recommended. Buffy tended to eat too fast and throw up so we split up her food into two servings.

Our beautiful neighbor Alva had a rescue Jack Russell terrier named Molly. Buffy and Molly would play together nicely. They both liked balls and would be off-leash at the end of our street which was a cul-de-sac. Buffy would bow low and bark up a storm. The two of them would pretend to go at it. Sometimes we had to break them up they would get so over-excited by the fun of it. I loved walking with Alva and getting to know her as he had a most interesting life and was an artist. Alva developed Parkinson's and was coping well. Later she found she had lung cancer and it spread to her spine.

Though she had to give her dog up, she loved dogs. Alva would watch Buffy for us when we went away. And she had a key and would come walk Buffy during the day when she felt good. When Alva became housebound and was in hospice, Buffy and I would visit Alva. Buffy didn't really want to go, so I would trick her by taking her for a walk, letting her play off leash for awhile and then putting on her leash and walking briskly saying let's go see Alva. Alva wanted buffy on her bed close to her so she could pet and comfort her. I could tell Buffy didn't really want to, but she would jump up on her bed to make Alva feel good.