This site is a personal reflection on life with Buttons. It's also about how certain characters can work their way into your heart.

Buttons came to us in November 2002, after living in kennels for almost nine years. Much of that time he spent alone and, because of his nervous nature, he didn't have many visitors.

For some reason, Fiona was very keen to adopt him. She spent many Saturday mornings driving from where we lived to Hersham, where he was staying, spending time with him, and trying to get him to accept her. But he wasn't too receptive to this, since he was a big old scaredy. Even sausage and cheese didn't coax him.

She asked me to join her on one of her visits, and as a peacekeeping concession to her current obsession, I agreed. We took Buttons, with Jack and Tegan, for a walk in the lane from the kennels.

And then Buttons came home with us for a short trial period, from which he never returned.

When he first arrived, he took up residence in the bed in the far corner of the living room. He would hide behind the chair there, but every now and then this little boggle-eyed grey face would pop up to see what was going on.

When, after three days, he first ventured out of his pit to approach one of us, it was to me as I was sitting on the sofa. Fiona, standing in the kitchen doorway, implored me to fuss him and rub his ears. I wasn't too keen on the idea, because he was panting heavily and his breath was rancid—a result of years of dental neglect that he never truly got over.

But Buttons was very stoic when he made the journey with us, from England to Switzerland in March 2003. And it was here that I really got to know him.