Feb. 14th 1990 - January 13, 2004

I will sorely miss him. He was more than a dog to me.

Buster was my friend.

     Buster, Fall of 2003 at 13.5 yr

Buster was born on Feb. 14th 1990. A Valentine. Born along with 12 other pups. It was a huge litter. But they all made it. He was special from the start. If you look at that picture of him as a little pup you can see how serious he looks at that camera. That was Buster all over. He was always the serious one. Unlike his brother Acton (DOB: 02-25-89), who was the clown.

When Buster was about 6 months old I sold him to a local lady who thought she would like to do some schutzhund with him and show him in conformation. At nine months, I was buying him back because he scared her husband. That Buster! He was always meant, really, to be my dog anyway. I did a great deal of Schutzhund training with him, and would have had him titled but our club broke up and so went his chances for titling. I then began showing Buster in conformation. He finished easily, beating out his very handsome brother Ch. Mattole Valley's Acton who was a group placing dog in his own right . Both of these brothers would go on to become top ten malinois for two years in a row and both were invited to the Purina Invitational.

But that was not enough for Buster. Come winter we started sledding, and Buster was my lead dog. The best ever. I have many stories I could tell but I will tell only one. At the race in Truckee, conditions were tough, very cold and the snow was as hard as cement. The sled would not corner at all and flew off its rails at every corner, and I flew with it. Every time I went sailing, Buster would stop our team and patiently wait for me to dust myself off, and painfully get back on before taking off. Other drivers had similar problems, but their dogs teams kept running, leaving their drivers behind. Not MY! Buster.

There are so many times this dog, stood between me and harm that I can't write about it. The tears are getting in the way. Suffice it to say he just wasn't a dog, he was my friend. I will miss him. I hope that those of you that get to know his granddaughters and grandsons, will appreciate a little better how special they really are because they carry a little bit of this fine dog in them.

Debbi