Meet Buddy.

He is the new resident dog here at headquarters and just arrived this morning via a local rescue group, Fuzzy Paws.

Buddy is a Shih-Tzu, estimated age is anywhere from three to five years, management has decided to make it five officially and make today his birthday.

He is quite a bit overweight (five lbs., I’d guess, which is a lot for an animal his size), has a skin condition which is almost but not quite cleared up and must be on a special diet as a result and was saved from a pound the day he was to be put down.

He so far has not been camera friendly, in the sense of taking a good photo; the one below, taken of him standing by my desk and wondering what’s going on is the best I got.

Buddy is hilarious when he runs, which he does a lot, especially seen from behind. From that view, he looks a lot like a friend of mine once looked from the same perspective while chasing his runaway dog in the Troegs Brewery parking lot in Harrisburg but said friend shall remain nameless. I will note, for those coming here from Jack Curtin’s Liquid Diet, that he is beloved.

We’ve taken one long walk—he trotted and ran, I walked, and the difference in our the length of our legs and strides made that work nicely—during which I learned that is fastidious, avoiding puddles and looking dismayed when he had to wade through a muddy surface to do so. He has checked out both his bedroom bed and the one by my desk, spent a bit of time in the latter and now is asleep in the middle of the floor…whoops, now he’s back on the bed again.

He knows where his water bowl is and within a few hours will realize that is also where his meals will be served, which I assume will cement the deal for him.

Life is good.