This is Buster (Mister Big Paws). Buster was a rescue dog from Westies In Need (WIN). We adopted him at 6 years of age and he came with some issues and was a little stress case, but he quickly adapted to life with his new family and began to show love and loyalty with us almost immediately.

He had a kind, gentle soul, never growled or bit anyone, was always quick to greet other dogs and people. He was a barker extraordinaire and taught his talents to his little sister Maggie (passed July 2013) and his little brother Toby (WIN adoption 2013). Buster was known by many names; Bussy, Mr. Man, Mr. Wuss, Bustop, Wussy, and sometimes Crazy Bus among a large collection of several little names we had for him on his quirky nature and habits.

Buster loved toys, he played for hours and had two crates of his favorites that he was not too fond of sharing. He would beat the window glass when he saw us coming home with a bag and a new toy and greeted us at the door with anticipation of the next four hours of fun before we had to take it away from him so he could relax. He also had some quirky habits with us at night where he would come up to us and show us his big paws. We had a song for this occasion and as we sang the Big Paw song, Buster would walk slowly toward us with his head down, swinging his right paw in the air, and crashing it down on the bed in front of his nose. He was showing us how he would get that squirrel and boom his big paw on top of it. It was very cute, very methodical, and a routine that played out every night and became his signature before bed. I wish we had kept a video of this routine but we did manage to capture a lot of his habits on film.

At the Ottawa Westie walk, everyone knew Buster. He was the one dog checking out the entire perimeter of the fence line as he always did, no matter where we were on walks. He loved his walk time and spent hours in the woods and the neighborhood, holding out as long as he could. When we turned for home, he would slow his pace down, stall, and pull the other way to keep the walk going. He was a funny guy that way and would have walked forever. He loved his brother Toby very much and always looked for Frazer (Westie) when we passed his house. He was smart, loyal and had a very inquisitive and curious mind.

Buster was thirteen when he passed and it happened very fast, without much warning. We walked him on a Saturday morning and he became ill afterwards. He passed away on the next Monday March 2 at the Vet office where we learned he was full of cancer and was ready to go on to heaven. He is sadly missed as the halls in the house are empty today of the life he brought to the home.

We thank WIN for the opportunity to have such a wonder dog in our lives and we are forever richer from his time with us. Heaven was given a little Angel with this sweet, loveable, little boy.