Buddy Breiding: Super Hero Saint in a Dog Suit

Meet Buddy Breiding.

Buddy Breiding is amazing on so many levels, dear readers, that your writer is, for the first time in her long and loquacious life, at a loss for words.

Buddy Breiding is, most assuredly a super hero saint in a dog suit. His life started humbly enough. Jason Breiding says that he found Buddy as a tiny puppy in a dumpster in Florida. It’s hard to imagine that Buddy was ever small, because now he is one big, strong, impressive dog.

Buddy is a pit bull/Chow Chow mix. Pit bulls and Chows have perhaps the most infamous reputations for being aggressive. I met Buddy when he was the Guest of Honor at the monthly meeting of the Paducah Kennel Club.

Buddy accompanied his family: Dad Jason, Mom Heather, toddler Samara (whose life Buddy saved, hence the Guest of Honor-ship), infant Damian, Grandmom Michelle and uncle Michael. Buddy came into our meeting room, full of around 60 Paducah Kennel Club members, a WPSD-TV news crew and 10 or more members’ dogs.

This would give many dogs pause. In fact, dogs who have not been trained to be comfortable in crowds would mostly freak all the way out. Strange people and dogs cramming in to meet Buddy and Samara — oh, I feared this would give Buddy the impression that he should go into Protect-the-Family-You-Better-Back-Off-NOW mode.

But he did not. This 90-pound, 3-year-old male pit bull/Chow greeted everyone he met, dog or human, with a pleasant smile and a wag.

And the reason Buddy was being honored? You might have seen him on WPSD-TV, or maybe you read about him in the Paducah Sun. Jason was cooking in the kitchen when a grease fire ignited. He tried to extinguish the fire, only to realize he needed to get his family out of the house, and fast.

Heather ran outside with 3-month-old Damian, thinking that Jason had Samara. Jason ran to check the living room and bedrooms. Not finding Samara, he relaxed. Heather must have already gotten her out. As he was leaving he saw Buddy dragging something out of the blazing, smoke filled kitchen.

“Buddy, come on!”

Only Buddy wouldn’t leave whatever it was that he dragging.

And that turned out to be Samara.

He had her by the diaper — didn’t leave as much as a scratch on her.

Rock on, Buddy Breiding.

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