Hello world! Mateo here. I am so pleased to join Buddy, after observing my amazing wife Lilith create this business over the past few years. I’ve long admired Lilith’s profession as she spent the days with dogs in nature (while I worked in congested city and corporate spheres), and connecting deeply with these wonderful animals. I wanted a change and just began a new chapter of joining Buddy, and also beginning a long-dreamed of entre-preneurship in acoustics. Now my days are also filled with dogs in nature, and in neighborhoods streets, and in our house. This so beats sitting in Bay Area traffic all day as I was doing a month ago!
Buddy emerged by unpredicted chance in our previous hometown of Bend, Oregon. Not long after Lilith and I met in Berlin, Germany, fell in love and married, she joined my life in Bend. After leaving her previous career running a cafe she created, she intended to begin a new career of nutritional consulting in Bend. While studying at home for her nutrition credentialing, and while I was away working, Lilith noticed a neighbor dog across the street, Keena, was also home alone all day. Lilith asked Keena’s owner if he would be okay with the extremely athletic, yet anxious, Keena hanging out with her and joining for physical activity. For free! He of course agreed and unknown to anybody at the time, Buddy was born.
Keena and Lilith spent most weekdays together for many monhts. Their groove was filled with runs and walks, quiet time in the house, and simply connecting. Lilith cultivated trust and positive engagement that led to Keena’s greater peace and better behavior. Lilith didn’t utilize exotic special powers to help Keena, rather she was consistent, clear, and always with the dog’s best interest in mind. I considered it so cool that Lilith invited Keena into such a constructive pattern, and I also noted how strong their connection was. Another key occurrence in Buddy history was when Lilith and Keena met a dog professional at a local dog park. The dog professional asked Lilith if she’d be interested in dog work. With nutrition consulting in her sights a profession with dogs hadn’t ever crossed her mind. Yet this sparked a whole new possibility that led to Lilith caring for a few more dogs through the professional she met. I would return home at night and hear about the trail adventures and fascinating canine characters she was working with. Her stories weren’t about the nutrition facts she was also spending her time with, the stories were about the dogs.
My parents also live in Bend and their next door neighbors have a young lab named Buddy. They were seeking care for Buddy while they were away traveling and this was Lilith’s first several-day long job providing full time care. I shared much of this time with them and recognized Lilith’s confidence and clarity on how to guide and care for this puppy (but couldn’t keep Buddy from eating socks. Last I heard he still eats socks). After consistently observing how much Lilith loved working with dogs and her raw ability to connect with them, we both concluded dog care was a great path to follow. She dove all in, named her new business Buddy after that young lab in Bend, and slowly cultivated the business I am honored to join now.