There have been a lot of tears shed the last few days. It is so difficult to say good-bye to friend that you have had for the last 16 1/2 years. It is excruciating when you are the one that has to make the decision. It's impossible.....
We moved into our home 17 1/2 years ago. We knew that I would be staying at home and running a daycare so we wanted to give the dog thing ago. We had to wait until we had the yard in. The summer of 2002 came and the grass was finally growing. Time for us to find a new friend. Kendall scoured the shelter sites looking for the perfect dog. I did not want a puppy, I wanted a dog that 1) was potty trained 2) already nice and 3) did not shed. Kendall saw the perfect dog and went and checked him out. I guess that when a dog comes to the shelter they have a 7 day period before they are adoptable. They need to see if anyone comes to claim them. Kendall happened to see him right when he went up on the website and was the first to see him. He put his name on a waiting list and they told us they would call if he became available to adopt. We received a call a week later. Nobody had claimed this cute little guy and if we wanted to adopt him we had first dibs but we needed to decide fast because there we 10 other names on the waiting list. We took the family in to see him and we decided he was the one. They assured me that he would not shed and he already fit the other two criteria We paid the adoption fees and they would fix him that night and we could pick up our brown eyed baby boy the next afternoon.
That night we discussed names it was a family decision everyone throwing out what they thought was good. We decided on Beudrou Beauregard Wilson III aka Buddy for short. We were all excited! Dad brought him home the next day. Poor guy was wearing a cone of shame because of the surgery. Madi was not to sure about him as she was only 15 months or so old and just walking but everyone else was smitten. I soon learned that the shelter lied to me....this dog shed a ton....like a puppy size a week...ugh.....I guess 2 out of three was not bad.
We were told Buddy was about a year old when we adopted him. Since dogs at the shelter don't come in with birth certificates that had to guess his age and his pedigree. They told us best guess was a Jack Russell Terrier/Springer Spaniel mix. We learned that he had a lot of energy....and I mean a lot!!! You know that beautiful grass that we waited to grow in before we got him.....well he soon wore a path along the side of the fence because he loved to run up and down the fence and bark when ever he heard someone walking by. Soon after getting him we put a flower bed along the fence line. He just would run up and down and eventually he would move the dirt and it looked like he was making a ramp too escape. We thought that he would be able to launch over the fence. We had to shovel down the ramp several times a summer for many many years.
We also learned that Buddy had a particular taste for Aushlynn's black Sunday shoes. He must have torn up at least 30 pair.....always of course on a Saturday night. Aushlynn wore sneakers to church a lot....I am not sure if she was in on it with the dog or not. Buddy also loved to eat the eyes out of stuffed animals...I don't know why, never the stuffing....just the eyes....maybe he did not like things looking at him....what a weirdo! My kids and my daycare kids lost many good toys this way.
Five months after we got him I was starting to trust him alone in the house. We went to our traditional Christmas Eve movie and when we came home Kendall came running outside telling me not to kill the dog. Turn out he was not a fan of us leaving him for a few hours and he tour up our couch! Seriously what dog does this? I was pretty upset. The next time we went out we put him in Avery's room and he ripped up the door jam. Lovely! After about 5 years he did not tear so much stuff up....but it was a trial for me. I have forgiven him for his transgressions against the furniture and the woodwork.
Buddy especially loved to go for rides. He would be laying down an all you would need to say is "Buddy wanna go for a ride?" he would quick as a flash be at the front door jumping around wanting to be let out. He did not like when you just teased him and asked and did not take him. He did not really like to stick his head out the window...maybe a inch and sniff and quickly bring it back in. He loved to stand on the middle seat with his back paws and put his front paws on the arm rest up front and then lean on either me or Kendall....mostly me with his hot breathe and drool because of his excitement.
He also like to go for walks....same thing...all you needed to say was "Buddy wanna go for a walk?'" He was at the door and could not stand still long enough for you to put his leash on. Buddy walked you....he would never walk behind you and always went his pace. This would cause him to breathe heavy because the collar was always tight around his neck....He never learned. Me and buddy had a running phase. Don't worry everyone...those days are over. Buddy was more of a sprinter and not long distance....sometimes I had to drag him along.
Buddy loved people. I only met two people in all my life that he was not a fan of. Buddy thought that everyone came to the door to pet him. What other reason would people have to come over. Once you started he did not like you to stop. If you did he would take his nose and lift your hand up for more...he knew you would always go longer. He was not one of those dogs that did not like you to wipe your hands on him...he loved to be petted.
Buddy was not allowed on the furniture....due to the fact that he shed like crazy and always left a pile of his former self behind and the fact that he ate the couch that one time. Problem was....I was the only one to enforce the rule....in fact as soon as I left a room others would encourage him to get up. It was a losing battle for the longest time. A few years ago I got a new couch and it was to high for him to get on....or he listened this time to the lecture about not getting on my new furniture. I like to think that he was listening to me. Aushlynn was the only one who would let him sleep with her. The rest of us drew the line at dog hair in our beds. The two of them had a special bond. Aushlynn was the only one that allowed him to lick her face....the rest of us did not enjoy dog face kisses.
Buddy loved to lay in front of the fire. He would lay with his face 2 inches away from the fire. I don't know how he did it. If I stood 6 inches away for a minute I had to move because it was way to hot. He could lay there for hours soaking it in. If you ever turned on the fire to stand by it, he was soon next to you leaning on you slowly moving you away so he was front and center.
Each time the kids left on missions I thought that he would pass away while they were gone...I was wrong....he had a joyous reunion with all the three of then when they returned form serving. He was so excited to see them and remembered them after they had been gone for so long. He loved his kids!
Some things that Buddy did not like: Thunder....he would shake like a baby for hours at the sound of thunder. He paced and tried so hard to get away from the sound. His hearing was to good and no matter where he went he could not escape it. He would hide under the kids beds at night during thunderstorms turning their beds in 25 cent vibrating motel beds. He also was not a fan of the the smoke alarm...to bad we burn things often....the poor guy acted just like a thunderstorm. But, if our house was actually on fire me and Buddy would be the only ones to escape because everyone else just assumes its a false alarm. He did not like balloons...not sure why, but they just scared him. Also, the flash of a camera sent him scrambling. Not to many professional pictures of him. Buddy hated dog food. He would sigh in disgust when ever he saw it in his bowl. I don't think that he though he was a dog. I think he would have liked me to dish him a plate and have him sit at the table. He also would watch me eat....every bite with longing in his eyes. I had to turn my back to him to enjoy my dinner. He was a cracker stealer.....always stole the Little's cookies and crackers. I had to give him a snack when the kids got one and he still took theirs! Buddy loved people food. Like I said...he thought he was people! He loved spaghetti. in fact "Buddy loves spaghetti" was our family"s safe password! Buddy really disliked baths....if you gave him one it was a catch 22 because as soon as he could get outside he would roll around trying to get the bath off and just get filthy again.
Buddy loved to play fetch.......funny thing is he would never give you the ball back. You had to catch him he could change directions better than any professional football player out there. Once you caught him you then had to pry the ball from his mouth. I guess we played keep away more than fetch. Sometimes we would use two ball and he'd drop the one in his mouth to go for the other one. He loved for Kendall to mess around with him and push him around the carpet. He would act all tough with a growl....but they both knew they were playing. He would escape and run away and Kendall would hit the ground with this hand a few times and Buddy would come running back for more. He loved to play tug of war with socks. He would never let go. You could actually lift him up by the mouth holding the sock. He'd be danging a foot in the air with no worries or dental pain! Buddy was an impressive jumper. Who said white dogs can't jump? He jumped higher than any dog I know. I would stand on a chair and hold something he wanted above my head and he could jump and get it! He had quite the vertical leap! He also loved to play with rolled up socks. it was his goal to get them unrolled and then he beat the tar out of them by having it in this mouth and shaking his head and hitting the sock back and forth on the ground. He also like to throw the socks up in the air to himself and catch them.
Buddy used to be our alarm system. He would stay up at night and watch for movement in the neighborhood. He would bark if he saw anything. You knew if he kept barking somebody was probably messing on our property that should not be and you needed to check it out. He was our watch dog. He did excellent work. If the blinds were shut....no worries.... he would stick his nose through to see. It was so funny to see this.
Buddy loved to lay in the sun. It was like his black spots soaked up the energy of the sun for him to run off. I think he was a beach dog at heart. I wish I could have taken him to live at the beach....its one of my life goals to. He loved to lay in our dining room when the sun show through the windows. A few years back he started getting ballsy and would climb on the dining room table and lay there, its where the best sun was. We caught him a few times and knew he was in trouble. We often came home from church and he was sunning on the dining room table. If we were not there to stop him I guess he could not resist. He also loved to lay in the sun outside. He had a few favorite spots to lay out in the backyard. On the deck by the stairs he would lay and watch people come down the sidewalk....this gave him maximum opportunity to jump down and go run up and down the fence as they came by. He loved to lay in the corner of the house on the grass by Madison's bedroom window. The last few years of his life this spot was his favorite. I guess cool grass, sun, the shade of the tree was a perfect combination for him. He also loved to lay in the corner of the backyard by the fence in the play area. This is where his ramp was he made while running down the fence line.
Buddy was a night owl. We would hear his nails clicking on the hardwood floors in the middle of the night. I think he just made circles around the rooms. He would scratch at the door if her wanted to either come in your room or be let outside to use the bathroom. Sometimes we would let him out at night and it seemed we were waiting forever for him to use the bathroom. We would look out on the deck and he would be in a deck chair just starring out into the night. This was our cue to go back to bed until we heard him scratching on the door to come back inside. Right after we got Buddy we realized that he ruined our back door because he kept scratching it. Discussion we had were if we should get a new door with a dog door in it. Since money was tight we decided that we would just get a new door one he was no longer with us. Oye....bad decision on our part we had no idea he would be with us for 16 1/2 years. We could have saved ourselves millions minutes of sleep if he could of just let himself in and out....our bad!
Buddy, I know you were patiently waiting for one of your kids to get married. You loved people and more family would have been more pets for you. I'm not sure if you made it 2 more years you would have seen it happen. I know you can work you Buddy magic from heaven and send so good potential mates their way. Thanks Buddy!
Oh Buddy, what more can I say about you? You have been my constant companion for 16 1/2 years. While everyone else went to school or work it was always me, you and the Little's here at home. You were a ninja dog and could sneak up and be under my feet without me realizing it. I tripped over you a million times. Sorry I got mad about that....I know you did it because you just wanted to be close to the coolest person ever or you were hoping I would get you something to eat! Buddy, in the words of Avery....You were a wicked cool dog! I am not sure that there is a better dog out there! We won the lottery when we found you to adopt! I've known for the past few weeks that you were dwindling. It was hard to accept....you are after all the energizer bunny...you just keep going and going and going. I know its been hard to eat and sleep and walk. I know that your bones have been hurting with your arthritis.....I feel you pain I am in the same boat, I walk the same way in the morning because of mine. I'm sorry that you have been in pain. The other day when you had a really bad night and I came and laid on the floor all night with you....in the morning my fit bit registered that I had 3200 steps, it was wrong, I had 3200 pets. I wish I would have meet my goal that night by giving you 10000 pets.
We buried you under the cedars at Grandma and Grandpa Peterson's house. Your next to your doggie cousin Falcor. You will be able to run free with no fences. You are gonna love it. Fresh mountain air and lots of sunshine and the shade of the cedar tree. Its a beautiful spot.
Buddy...I'm not gonna lie.....I am going to miss you....we all will. I'll miss the click clack of your claws when you walk on the hardwood floors. I'll miss seeing you sticking your nose through the blinds. I miss you trying to escape out the front door thru the tiniest crack. You would try to push the door open...you were so eager to get out the front door. I'll miss you barking and telling me that someone is at the front door....you were way better than a doorbell. I'll miss you setting off the doorbell with your bark. I will miss you poking your head under the deck looking in the basement window and barking at me telling me you are ready to come inside. I'll miss you watching me eating my food. I'll miss you greeting me each morning with a wagging tail. I'll miss you going with me to take the kids to preschool and stopping at the fast food drive thru's trying to find food you will eat. You loved those nuggets at Chick-fil-a. I'll miss you with me all day long with the Little's. I'll miss your little mustache that you grew the last few years, it looked like a little milk mustache. It made you look very distinguished. I miss the way you cocked your head to one side when I spoke to you. I'll miss the way your ears perked up when you hear any sounds. I'll miss you putting your paws on the high chair trying to steal food from the babies. I will miss not having to sweep the kitchen floor after lunch time because you cleaned under the table for me. I will miss seeing you drinking from the toilet...you were gross that way. You could not help it. If the door was open you would go it....it always looked like you were throwing up...haha! I'll miss you laying in your bed in the living room...that will always be your spot. I will miss watching you eating snow...you would run outside and scoop it up on your mouth and munch away. I'll miss petting you and when I stop you taking your head to my hand and making me pet you more. I'm pretty much gonna miss everything about you not being here....my days will be a little empty without you here. You have been a good boy! You have been a great friend and companion to the whole family! I know your not gone forever. I am pretty sure I will find your dog hair for the next 5 years. When I find some I will smile and remember you and not dread cleaning it up. I am sure you will be waiting there for me in heaven so you can trip me as I walk thru the gates. Good-bye my brown-eyed boy. Love you so so so much!
