ONE DOG LIVED IN LUXURY. THE OTHER LIVED WITH A HOMELESS MAN. BOTH WERE NAMED BUSTER.

One lives in a multimillion-dollar retreat. The other belonged to a man who once had no home at all. Somehow, both stories end up being about the exact same thing.

This week, a bearded collie named Buster is making headlines for living what can only be described as the dog version of a five-star resort. His owners, Howard and Suze Rubin, purchased a home in Pound Ridge, New York, for $1.825 million in 2019 after deciding that Florida’s heat and humidity weren’t particularly agreeable to their very furry dog. They later spent roughly $2 million renovating the property, and while not every dollar was spent specifically on Buster, he clearly had a seat at the design table.

The place is appropriately called Buster’s Retreat.

There are pool sun shelves where Buster can stand and lounge because, apparently, he likes water but isn’t especially interested in swimming. The backyard includes artificial turf, a fenced playground, strategically placed shade and a composite pool deck designed to stay cooler beneath his paws. Inside, there are toy stations, fans throughout the house and nine televisions. Buster is reportedly a Paw Patrol guy.

It is an extraordinary amount of comfort for one dog. It’s also easy to look at a story like that and reduce it to the money.

Then there is another dog named Buster.

More than a decade ago, Pete Buchmann found himself homeless in Delaware after his finances collapsed and he could no longer afford his apartment. He initially tried living in a tent, but his nine-year-old Rottweiler-boxer mix, Buster, was older, arthritic and needed something better. So Pete did what someone who loved his dog sometimes has to do: he asked for help.

Faithful Friends Animal Society agreed to care for Buster while Pete stayed at a homeless mission and tried to put his life back together.

But Pete didn't surrender his dog and disappear.

Every day, rain or shine, he walked roughly five miles round-trip to the shelter to see Buster. Once he got there, he stayed for another two or three hours helping volunteers walk the other dogs. Buster had a safe place to sleep, and more importantly, he kept seeing the person he knew belonged to him.

Eventually, people heard about them.

Readers rallied around Pete. A fundraising campaign brought in tens of thousands of dollars, someone donated a vehicle, transitional housing provided months of free rent, and a local company offered him a job. Pete and Buster were able to live together again.

Buster lived for roughly two more years before developing terminal cancer. Pete continued volunteering with Faithful Friends afterward and eventually took home another difficult-to-place shelter dog named Matteo. Years later, when asked about everything that had changed in his life, Pete gave Buster the credit:

“I always say Buster is the one that got me here.”

WHICH BUSTER HAD THE BETTER LIFE?

It sounds like a ridiculous question. Maybe that’s why it’s worth asking.

One Buster had a swimming pool, shaded grounds, televisions and a house literally named after him. The other had a man who didn't have a house at all, but still walked five miles every day to make sure his dog knew he hadn’t been abandoned.

The circumstances could hardly be more different. The dogs probably wouldn't understand the difference.

A dog doesn't know what Zillow says your house is worth. He doesn't know whether the floor beneath him is expensive composite decking or the floor of a shelter. He doesn't know whether his bed cost $300 or whether somebody folded an old blanket in half and put it beside yours.

Dogs understand their lives through something much simpler.

Who feeds me? Who protects me? Who comes back? Who is mine?

Howard and Suze changed their lives because they loved their Buster. Pete fought his way back toward stability because he loved his.

One had millions available to give his dog an extraordinary life. The other had almost nothing left and still found something to give. Neither love becomes more legitimate because of the size of the bank account behind it.

Maybe that’s the real reason these two stories belong beside each other. There is a force greater than us that seems to show itself sometimes in the strangest places, including the bond between a person and a dog. Dogs strip away almost everything humans use to measure a successful life and leave us with the part that mattered all along.

You showed up. You stayed. You loved them.

And as far as the dog is concerned, that was enough.

🍑 Eat the peaches out of life. Your dog’s already doing it!