James Kastenholz, Buffy's Co-Owner
Buffy was a quite normal looking black Standard Poodle who lived with the Kastenholz family for twelve years. I came to know Buffy during that time as an intelligent dog, as the breed is known to possess that characteristic. In her last years Buffy began to display wisdom and understanding that was unique in its tone and character and in the perspective from which it was asserted. I don't know how or why nature chose this moment for a dog to demonstrate its connections to the human mental world. I can only bear witness to the truth of the matter. Knowledge is a function of being, and the thing known is understood in the mode of the knower. Buffy knew in a mode that, as far as I can ascertain, has never been witnessed before. Her worldview united the lower animal instincts with the higher intellectual functions of the primates. Apparently, during her twelve years Buffy had been assimilating the information she obtained from sources such as family conversations, television, books and the internet. The outlook she synthesized from these disparate sources is at times profound, at times seemingly comical, but always insightful on some level. At times there seems to be an inability for Buffy to distinguish reality from fiction, or perhaps she just happens to be reflecting the truth of our times. Decide for yourself what the ideas and opinions of Buffy mean to your lives. You may never look at your dog in the same way again.
A Dog's Perspective (Letter From Buffy)
As I approach my 11th dog year I find that there are certain things that must be said and ideas that must be shared about how I see the world; its joys and sorrows and all of the attendant emotions that fill a dog’s days and years as she accumulates knowledge about the world. You might ask what I have to offer in this regard, me being just a dog, and you the reader, obviously an intelligent and rather handsome looking human being. You might say that I have only a dog’s eye view of the world, and that I can’t possibly know anything that you don’t already know. But I beg you to read on, and see what becomes of my effort. A dog learns many things about the world as he or she moves through the stages of life, developing from a cute lovable puppy to a sage and refined standard poodle in my particular case. You might see the world in a certain way based on your particular genetic constitution and environmentally induced neuronal connections, but you and I (me being the I if you’ll grant me that) can learn from each other. I’ve spent a lot of time listening to your species in the form of my loving family’s dialogue, and from what I’ve heard on the television. When the master’s away I paw through his books. I hope you’ll take the time to listen to my philosophy on life and its many challenges and rewards. Perhaps together we can improve on our interspecies dialogue, and learn to see each other’ point of view. If not, I’ll just take a nap here in the sunshine and wait until dinner.
