Hi Dalmaniacs or Dalmadmirers,

Sorry to take so long to get this out.

Thank you so much for Buddy and Betsy. They are goofy, outrageous, crazy and so we love them. The first time they met was the day we brought them home (in separate cars).  They got along immediately. They play together constantly. They run, they chase, they wrestle, they play tug and when they run out of things to chew on they chew on each other.

We had been warned that Buddy could jump a 5 foot and maybe a 6 foot fence. For the first week or two he showed no interest in that type of activity. Then he saw the squirrel running along the top of the 6 foot fence. Betsy ran in the house (yes just like Lassie getting Timmy to rush to the well) and she said, "Dude, you have got to see this!" (Bets is from the Vail area, what can I tell you, she also says things like "OMG, U R MY BFF!!!") So I ran outside and there is Buddy stretched out on top of the fence waiting for the next squirrel to come along. Of course with a 50/50 chance of coming off the fence into our yard Bud jumped into the neighbors. Our yard borders 4 other yards, all fenced and over the next 3 days Buddy visited 3 of them.  Kathy had noticed how the folks at B&B for DOG, where the Budster had been living the high life till he came home with us, had jump proofed their fence.  We did that and Buddy hasn't left the yard, aerially, since.

We've been able to trust Buddy in the house when we're out right from the start, but Betsy likes to get into things ("What is that pile of gray plastic bits and pieces on the stairs?" "I think it was the remote for the DVD player, yep it was?") So we kenneled her while we were out for a while and then gradually - 10 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, etc- we trusted her.  Now we can leave them both out and unless we've gotten careless and left something around that any self-respecting dog would want to return to its pre-manufactured state (who knew that Chinese box was just silk wrapped around raw cowhide - well, Betsy knew) everything is good.

Also, the brisk hour-long walks every morning help to burn off some of that energy. Buddy, Betsy and Gary like to wander around Cherry Creek Reservoir Park.  We walk through the dog run area, the deer trails, the bike paths and the creeks (Bets likes to jump on the fish, even if the fish aren't there and Buddy likes to lay in the water and let the current roll him over - he calls it the Zen of nature, and then he says "Now let's explore the Zen of treats, Grasshopper" At this point Betsy runs up and says "Grasshoppers ARE treats" This usually leads to great bursts of dog laughter and running around looking for grasshoppers, crickets, mice and possibly horse droppings.)

So Betsy loves Buddy and Buddy loves Betsy. They both love us and we love them.  Hold on while I get my guitar and put on a tie dyed shirt.

But seriously, thanks to everyone who made this wonderful thing happen.

Betsy, Buddy, Kathy and Gary