22/03/2020

Saving Buddy by Nicola Owst

I discovered Saving Buddy by Nicola Owst – The heartwarming story of a very special rescue when I saw Crufts this year. I’m a big fan of Crufts, I went there once a few years ago, see here the story about that, and the last years we watched it on TV.

In 2009, Nicola found Buddy when she accompanied a friend to pick up a horse which was maltreated. She saw the nearly dead dog, in a crate, incapable of moving, and took him with her. He was so badly that it wasn’t clear he will survive, even after getting treatment. Luckily he did survive and he changed her life.

The book is mostly about her and her journey, despite the name being Saving Buddy. Even so, I liked the book a lot and I would recommend it. The only reason I gave 4 stars is because she is mentioning that Staffies are bred with aggressive breeds so the new dogs can be used as status-dogs.

Obviously, there is no such thing as an aggressive breed. Dogs are dogs, if they are not socialized properly or if humans are not considerate (like leaving screaming children to interact alone with dogs), then, any dog, any breed can became aggressive, or, better said, defensive. I was amazed that someone with her experience could say something like this. She mentions that one of the dogs with whom Buddy played had an issue with other dogs after being attacked by a Labrador, but she doesn’t talk too much about that.

When I first learned that in UK a staffy is considered a status-dog I was puzzled… I mean… is slightly bigger than a fluffy cat (a staffy is about 17kg), what’s the status in that? Back in Romania, my Rottweiler (~55kg) is considered a medium sized dog, an accurate description considering there are much bigger dogs. But that’s beyond the point. Here, in UK, he was attacked and barked at by “cute” dogs, a ~6kg hysterical mutt, with, obviously unprepared and uncaring owners. Was that one of the aggressive dogs she was thinking about? I imagine she wasn’t, and that is why I took a star out, for branding a type of dog as aggressive. I would have imagined a strong “owner not breed” message was more appropriate.