Buddy and Bear

On one of my first trips over to Glens Falls to visit with Mannix I stopped at Sutherland's Petworks. The store looked long, large and inviting with a large sign announcing its identity as a pet store.  I thought it might be nice to pick up some snacks to take home to the pugs. Inside, I discovered instead a charming, three-legged bulldog named Buddy, who served as the official customer greeter. I talked to one of the clerks in the store or perhaps she was the owner, about Buddy's origins as a stray and watched him move through the aisles and stare out the window, watching and greeting folk.

Today on my way home I decided I should stop in and revisit Buddy and see how he was doing. I opened the door to the store and let out a loud sigh of disappointment that Buddy wasn't there to greet me. I told the woman behind the counter that I was looking for the dog and she told me that there was one roaming around and another back in the office. I vaguely remember that the woman the last time had told me there was more than one official mascot.

I stared down the aisle and there was a cute Corgi (Pembroke? Cardigan? I'm not sure which, perhaps one of you readers know the distinction?). "His name is Bear," the clerk said.

I proceeded to chase Bear around the store snapping away when the woman told me that Buddy was there as well. He loped out of the office on his three legs followed by the woman whom I had met on my previous visit. "I tried to find your blog," she announced.

I remembered that I had told her about my blog on my last visit and had promised to put a photo of Buddy up as I had. "Pugs and Pics," I told her as I set about snapping photos of Buddy.

Buddy had bought me his red ball, which was complemented by the red of his eyes. I had difficulty getting a good shot because he kept getting so close. Bear seemed jealous and stood on the outskirts trying to attract attention, but didn't seem to like his own picture taken. That didn't deter me. I got down on the floor and tried to shoot them both while rolling the ball and scratching Buddy's itchy spot.

I never actually got around to buying any treats for the pugs on this occasion either, but Petworks looks like a great place to shop. If nothing else, it is a wonderful place to visit for a dog fix. My father who was traveling with me today told the store clerk, he hoped I didn't know any other dog friendly establishments en route because we may not make it home. Everyone laughed, but deep down I knew he was right.