River Road, in New Milford, CT, is haunted by a dog named Buddy. He is a Golden Retriever who is seen in the trees along the road, on the nature preserve, and near the train tracks parallel to the road.
Sightings typically begin with the sound of bells, or sounding like "tags on a dog collar". The person then turns around to see Buddy about 50 meters away from them. He usually either barks or stays still, always (but once) wagging his tail and appearing happy. On several occasions, hikers, runners, or those driving by have tried to approach the dog, but he turns and runs away. There are some who have said that he runs out of sight, but the majority of those who have seen Buddy said that he either runs or walks away for a couple seconds and then "fades into nothing".
Buddy has almost always been seen the same way, as appearing happily, but there was one case where he was less hospitable. The person who reported this was running with a high school cross country team, when the team was stopped by a large dog in the middle of the path. This is also on the only occasions where Buddy was seen standing in front of those who saw him first, not behind them until they turned around. The dog stayed completely still, they said, until one of the runners tried to move off the path to go around the dog; Buddy started growling. The group began to move backwards away from him, but he ran towards them and jumper into the air. According to the sighting, he seemed to jump with agility far beyond that of a Golden Retriever; but before he could get to the runners, they said, he ceased to exist.
Other sightings have occurred from a far distance; people who live on River Road have said that they have seen Buddy standing stock still either in the road or behind the houses. One resident said that they saw Buddy standing in the road, until a car came; they say they were standing in their yard when it happened, and tried to wave to the car to slow down; the car continued on as if the driver saw nothing, until it drove straight into the dog; but when the car passed, there was nothing there.
Theories as to why Buddy haunts River Road can be narrowed down to one story similar to all; he was adopted as a puppy by a family sometime before 2000 (the first year he was sighted), and the family, realizing they were unable to take care of a puppy, abandoned him on the nature path conjoined to River Road. He died as a puppy, and “grew up” in all the years he’s been there. He has always been seen wearing a collar with identification tags, but no one has gotten close enough to see what they say. The name “Buddy” was given to him by one of the many who spotted him while biking through the nature trail.
