It was Feb. 22, 1988 a cold blustery day. Emily's second birthday. We were looking for a sheltie collie. Bill called the Wood County Animal Shelter and "Yes, we have a sheltie collie pup here!"
We bundled up Emily in her snowsuit and headed to the shelter. The lady warden led us to the back room that held the potential "adoptees". She opened the huge cage that was home to this "sheltie". There he sat, calm cool and collected, staring up at me were two the most soulful brown eyes I have ever seen. SHELTIE????? There was collie there, but also a whole lot of German Shephard! His feet were HUGE! This was no sheltie and it was obvious he was going to grow to be one big dog! We lived in town on a corner lot with little room for a large dog like him to roam! :(
Bill commented on his big feet stating.."He is going to be way too big!" and explained to the lady that "...we will be back if we don't find what we want."
I had all ready fallen in love with this little guy! She explained that he would be here "...until Thursday at 11."
"Where is he going?" I asked.
"I have kept him longer than I should. We have all ready destroyed his litter mates. But, there is something very special about this pup. He is the type that when he has his family he will be soooo proud and I just feel he is going to make a wonderful addition to a good family." She went on to explain that his brothers and two sisters were dumped in a farmers driveway on a cold snowy night a few weeks before and the farmer brought them to the shelter. They destroyed one female and the other male right away saying "they were tooo aggressive in a bad way. The litter had obviously been abused."
We left and got back into our van. Bill started the engine and I yelled "WAIT!!!You know very good and well we will not get back here to get him! I can't live with the fact of knowing that he may never find the family he is looking for! I would rather have a well behaved big dog than a snotty little dog anyday!"
I heard a *SIGH* "Go get him!"
I leapt from the van and ran back into the pound and paid for our new family member!
Over the next ten and one half years he gave us unconditional love like none of us in our family has ever known. There to greet us with his bright brown eyes, a smile on his face, a tail that wagged so hard and fast his back feet were lifted from the floor. Greeting us day in and day out when we returned from work, school or where ever it was we had been.
Buddy LOVED to chase cats! *giggle* His favorite was the neighbor's big white cat, Cotton. I think Cotton enjoyed being chased by Buddy though! They kinda had this "agreement" between them. It showed in the way Cotton antagonized Bud, and how Bud didn't rip his head off when he had the chance!
He LOVED to swim! He had his own hard plastic pool, after ripping the bottoms out of the vinyl ones we got for Em!
He LOVED to lay right behind me when I was at the kitchen sink, I tripped over him when I made a move! LOL
He LOVED to be where he was close to his family, laying infront of the TV so he could be seen when we were watching it, laying in the archways and doorways so we couldn't get past the door without falling over him! :)
He LOVED to show off a new trick that Josh taught him! It was funny when he "played dead" his back leg was held in mid air and his tail would wag! LOL That was HIS version of "dead dog!!!" :)
He LOVED his family!
As the years rolled by, we really didn't notice the way he was aging. Until one day, we did see that he seemed to sleep more than he was awake. That he couldn't run and jump like he used to.He didn't want to be out in the snow. Something else Bud LOVED was the snow! He would root his nose in it and come in with snow caked to his snout! :) He didn't bark the annoucement of visitors anymore, because he could no longer hear well.
The baths worked for a day, then he needed another. The skin dead skin fell off him like rain. He smelled sooo bad! :( He got so he could not control his bodily function...mostly urine and "went" in the house, something that shamed him to no end. He hung his head, realizing what he had done and feeling bad about it.
It broke my heart to see how miserable he was. He would dig and whine cause he was so miserable. I talked to Bill about it, and for the past six months or so, we discussed rather heatedly sometimes, putting him to "sleep". Bill refused to see how sad Buddy was, how he no longer could hear, his eyes were growing cloudy and I wondered if he could see very far. He no longer raced me up the stairs when I turned the lights out to go to bed.
Emily was the one I worried about most. Bud was really HER dog. He was her protector and best friend for ten years of her short life. She cried and screamed at first, but her common sense and her love for her beloved pet took over and she saw how he was suffering.
On August 13, 1998, we bid farewell to our beloved Buddy. Em went to a friend's not wanting to be here to watch him leave the only home he has ever lived in. Bill called him to the back door, he didn't want to go. Did he sense it? I was staying behind, I walked out of the kitchen telling Bill "I'll be here for you when you come back".
Shortly after Bill left, Billy came by, He had seen Bill at the corner and said "Dad's crying, I told him I would go with him". I jumped up and told Billy to wait, I'm getting dressed and going too.
When we go to the vet, Bill and Bud were outside. Bill said "I'll go inside and pay the vet." It was then "time" for Bud and I to go inside. Billy came with me. I told the vet I wanted to stay with him and he said it was fine. He picked Bud up and carried him to the "surgery room" and laid him on the table. Bud didn't fight being put there. I stood in front of him and held his head in my hand, stroking his forehead and staring into his big brown eyes telling him I loved him and it was "going to be okay"
The vet cleansed his leg, and injected the drug that was going to take away his aches and pains. I held him, and then about 15 seconds later, Doc listened to his heart and told Billy.."He's gone"
Billy and I stayed with him. I kissed him over and over and told him I was sorry, then I closed his eyes. I'm glad I was with him and I'm glad I was the last person he saw as he slipped into his new world...at Rainbow Bridge. He is waiting and one day, we will cross the bridge together.
He LOVED to chase sticks and balls and bring them back to the kids! Catching them in mid air as he gracefully jumped to grab them!
He LOVED Emily! When she was outside riding her trike, we would hear him bark...FRANTICALLY! She would be too close to the street and when Bill or I would look, he would be hearding her back to the sidewalk, staying between her and the street, like she was him baby lamb.
Buddy LOVED us, UNCONDITIONALLY! No matter where we went, how long we were gone, he was there for us. He sensed when something was "wrong" with one of his family. If I was upset, he would lay his paw on my knee, staring up at me with those big brown eyes as if to say "I'm here for you".
Bud somehow got some skin disorder. He dug and scratched and sores would open up on his back and near his tail. We bathed and bathed him, took him to groomers who tried their special shampoos and treatments. Finally, I took him to the vet and spent a chunk on another special shampoo and he gave him Prendisone, only to be taken for a few days. "It will cause his kidneys to produce urine faster and he will "go" alot!
Emily woke up on Friday and told me, "Mom, I had a dream last night! I heard Buddy barking and it sounded like he was outside. I went downstairs and opened the door to let him in and went back to bed! I SWEAR it was him! I SAW him!!! I feel better now, I know he is ok, he's still here with us!"
Bill came home from work on Friday and told me he had a dream last night! He was climbing a hill, the grass was sooo green, flowers dotted the hillside. "When I reached the top of the hill, I looked down the other side and there were three people with their backs to me looking at something in a beautiful lake! I walked down to where they were and there was Mom, Dad and your Dad! They were watching Buddy swim in the lake! He's in good hands! He's ok!"
I didn't get much sleep that day and had to work at 11pm. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Buddy. It hurt so darned bad! I got ready for work, and as I pulled from the drive, I wondered how in the world I was ever going to take care of my patient's that night! I NEEDED care! On my route to work is a beautiful quarry. As I passed that quarry a deep sense of calm and peace came over me. Buddy was OK! That is the thought that came to mind, he is happy, he is whole, he is not suffering with that horrible skin thing he had! I managed to make it through the night without skipping a beat!"
Could it be? Is our Buddy STILL protecting his family? I think so. I think that his SOUL will always be with this family. We all still cry at some point during the day, a thought, a scent, something comes over us and we cry.
Buddy left behind his little friend, Minnie, our other fur person. Minnie keeps "looking" at the door. She has never done that before! I believe she is looking for Buddy to come back in. When I let her out, she looks down the sidewalk in the direction Bud liked to go to do his "business" outside. She just sits and stares in that direction. She lays at my feet when I do dishes now. She lays in the doorways where Buddy laid, she lays in front of the TV where he used to lay. She misses him and I'll bet he is coming to her in her dreams, instructing her on how to carry on without him, things to do that we like the best. I can just hear him telling her "Lay beside Mom when she does dishes! She will get after you for tripping her, then she'll pat your head and give you a treat!" Yea, That is something our guy would do all right. He's not gone from us and never will be!
Update on Minnie..for a week she would NOT eat! Buddy and Minnie shared the same bowel! It was THEIR choice to do that! Well, it was Minnie's! LOL, When we first got her from a friend who couldn't keep her anymore, she had her own bowels BUT, she decided she wanted Bud's food, so she kinda took over them! At first she could eat from her's and his BUT, he couldn't eat from either one! Then, she ALLOWED him to eat WITH her! LOL, so, they shared the same food and water bowels and they were big enough for Minnie to laydown in! :) We didnt' think after he was gone and kept her food and water in his bowels. She would just stare at them and did drink some, but would not eat! Finally, I dug out her little bowels and filled them and she has been eating again. This little doll has been in a real depression since he has gone. She misses her Bud as much as we do. She has been so silent..not barking and yipping the way she used to..her head hanging down, he tail dragging on the floor....and yes, there have been tears in her eyes.
She is doing a bit better, getting a little more active, and last night she BARKED! :) She is mourning right along with us and we have all been giving her tender loving care right now and she's giving it back. That's what friends do for each other!
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