The Dog

Just like everyone has a name - everyone has a dog. or a cat. or a rat. or a bird. or a hamster. or a pet rock.

I mean - you have something if you are breathing and are willing to take a few moments out of each day and feed another creature and somehow have ownership of something special.

I mean a pet is not a child - although some dress them and treat them so. To me, a pet is something special. A being that will offer unconditional love NO MATTER WHAT. In this case - the pet is the dog - or should I rather say THE DOG and in this case the dog's name is BUDDY.

I dreamed buddy before he was ours. We lost our previous pet Toby- a scruffy no count wonderful "human companion" who had lived with us for about 15 years. Tody developed tumors that eventually crowded out his normal organs and he died. Peacefully and at an old age.

One night I had a dream and when morning came I said to John, "when we have a new dog we are going to name him Buddy." We were devastasted over Toby's death. So it was not without much to do that we acquired a new pet-dog-being-Buddy.

We had visited every pet shelter in 100 mile radius. Looking for the one animal that would make eye contact or sigh when being held. But- nothing. Our trips yielded nothing. You would think that the poor shivering tick ridden shelter dogs would do just about anything to get adopted. Perhaps I am simplifying things - and perhaps I am projecting my own thoughts. In reality - many of the dogs we say had vacant hopeless looks. And that wasn't really what I was looking for. I wanted some sort of sign that the dog we were seeking was "Buddy." Perhaps I was looking for too much.


However, one saturday many years ago - I visited a pet store and on the floor was a tiny brown and white puppy and everyone was playing with it. My first thought was "get away from my dog" and then I was surprised at my reaction because this was a puppy that I didn't know. Or did I?

I sat down on the floor and "Buddy" came up to me and we shared a moment. Actually we shared many moments and I was hooked. So I left the pet store and said, wait for me - "I'll be back."


I frantically raced home and found John mowing the lawn. It was a hot day and he had sweat running down his face - and I said - " you have to come with me. I found Buddy!"

"I'm not through mowing," was his retort.

"I don't care - you have to come," I pleaded. "Really, Really!"

And so, relunctantly, John came with me to the pet store. When we got there - Buddy was asleep. I picked him up and cuddled him and he didn't wake up. He was plumb tuckered out from all of the attention he had earlier. I showed him to John, but I must say - John was not impressed with the sleeping ball of brown and white fur. So we sat on the floor and watched Buddy sleep. Watching a puppy sleep is kind of a good thing all by itself. I believe your breathing slows and you wait patiently for whatever sign or movement will come next.

In the meantime - we talked to the pet store owner about Buddy. John kept saying, "Whatever YOU want...." and I kept saying, "No - you have to want him too!" And that went on for about 2 hours. (I'm not kidding - John can be really hard when it comes to getting excited about things - and he was just NOT excited about Buddy.)

Finally Buddy woke up - and played a bit - and won John over. We took Buddy home - and that's when it all started. Our relationship with the most wonderful dog in the world. Buddy.