buddy

This past Saturday the Sanders family dog, Buddy, died. The past couple years have been rough ones for him, and we knew it was coming soon- but of course we are are all still sad.

We got Buddy when I was 13 and in the 8th grade. My parents brought him home from a charity auction. I was so excited because my parents always told us we couldn't have pets- other goldfish. He was cute and so full of energy. He loved to play. He would bring us toys to throw, but once we threw them, he would play keep away and wouldn't give them back! He also loved to be loved on. My mom didn't like him wandering the house because he shed so much, so a lot of his inside time was spent in the kennel, but I would open the kennel door and just pet him and talk to him. He was a sweetie.

He had a little wading pool in the back yard that my sisters and I would throw ice cubes in that he would try to find before they melted, and then once his feet were all wet, we would throw another ice cube down to the other end of the patio and he would run after it, slipping and sliding. We thought that was hilarious. We also loved putting his big orange tennis ball on the trampoline and he would get underneath and bark and hit it with his nose trying to get it off. Then, one day, he learned that he could get on the trampoline and that was even more fun! I can't help but feel partially responsible for his bad hips in his old age.

As fun as he was, he did get into his fair share of mischief too. When he was puppy he ate an entire bottle of ibuprofen and had to get his stomach pumped and at one point he broke his hip and had his leg in a cast. He chewed through the cable on the side of the house- so Cox had to come out and run a new cable line and made dad had to put a copper pipe around it to keep him from chewing. He also chewed through a bunch of garden hoses. He had a tendency to escape and run away from us when he was younger, but as he got older, if he got out, he would just come sit up by the front door until someone let him inside again.

Overall, he was a very smart and generally well behaved. He knew lots of tricks- sit, lay down, shake, speak, catch- but his most impressive was "dead dog"- he would lie completely still and you could poke him and mess with his ears and paws and wouldn't move. He would even slow his breathing- it was very impressive. At any age, he was always so excited to see us and always ready to give and receive love- and we always knew he would protect us and make us feel safe. I'm gonna miss the old guy.

Nathan was sweet enough to go to vet's office and do some clay paw prints so we could all have something to remember Buddy by. I wish we had taken some more pictures of him! These are the only ones I had on hand.

This is Buddy (on the left) with his offspring "Puppy" or as I so lovingly referred to him as "little black stupid"- and my dog Daisy. Another thing I will always remember about Buddy is that he would let Daisy sit on him. She didn't like putting her butt on the ground, so Buddy would lay down and Daisy would lay or sit on top of him.

This is Buddy with his favorite big orange tennis ball, that I mentioned earlier.

And this is a very unflattering picture of Buddy trying to get the ball away from me. 

I'm so sad that he's not in our lives anymore, but so glad that he doesn't have to be lonely or in pain anymore. Bye, Buddy! We love you and miss you!