Buddy dog.
As wonderful and fun as July 4th is, and was this year, July 1st will forever be the day we had to put our Buddy dog down. Buddy was 11 and we had him since we was a puppy. I distinctly remember the day that my sister and I were home with my Dad and we told him that we wanted a puppy. He said okay, looked in the paper and then called my mom asking "What color? Yellow, brown, or black?" to which she replied "NNNOOOOO!!!!!" (Maggie and I thought that we had worked some type of magic and upon our request to get a puppy suddenly we were getting one! In all reality, Mom and Dad had talked about it and although Mom was almost entirely opposed my dad convinced her that she should not deny her children the enjoyment she (and my dad) had had when they were kids with their family dogs. Did you follow that?) So she gave in, said "yellow" and then Dad, Maggie, and I got into the car and started driving to get a puppy!
We got to the breeder's house and they brought in the males for us to play with. I remember there being a yellow and a brown lab that we were playing with. The yellow, who we wanted because it was the color Mom actually agreed to, was sooooo boring! He would not play and would not act perky and fun but the little brown one was all over the place and full of energy! Maggie and I were content to keep playing with both of them, and tried to convince Dad that we needed two (apparently we had exceeded our magic quota for the day because that request was definitely not going to happen). Dad knew we needed to make a decision and take one puppy home so he looked at the brown one, full of energy but not the color we wanted, and then at the yellow one, boring but the color we wanted, and pleaded with the yellow "Please start playing, please show us some energy and personality!" And I'm not exaggerating when I say, the yellow one responded almost immediately and was suddenly all energetic and fun! That sealed the deal and we took home the yellow lab puppy!
Deciding upon a name was a challenge because everyone in my family had an opinion and wanted to pick the winning name so OBVIOUSLY we ended up choosing the most BORING and CLASSIC name possible...BUDDY! Books about dogs say that the "puppy stage" lasts about 2 years but for Buddy it lasted about 3.5 almost 4. He ate my homework, chewed a library book, ate trash, and unfortunately baby birds, but we all made it through the puppy stage and he then became known as "Mellow Yellow". I would sit on top of him, dance with him, run around the yard, throw the rope, swim with him in a family friend's pond, and when I was in St. Louis I loved coming home to his excitement, joy, and love. He was such a wonderful "big brother" when our family adopted Izzy, a lab mix, who had come from two abusive homes. He showed her the ropes and how to love our family. Our entire family and many friends loved, and still do love, Buddy, even Mom! He was definitely a family member and has been around for half of my life. I cannot imagine my childhood without him.
It is amazing how much can change in a month, he was totally healthy and in a few week's time he was super sick and the vet could not tell us why. He could hardly breathe, was not eating or drinking, and could barely move. The blood work gave us no answers, the urine test didn't either and we just knew it was time; he had lived a good 11 years and had been very happy. We decided to put him down on Monday and I have been crying for days. He will always be our "Buddy dog," the best friend we could have asked for.
Izzy, Maggie, Princess (on the chair), me, and Buddy.
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