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 Ol' Buddy Changed My Mind I've always had big dogs; I’m talking German Shepherds and Bulldogs. Dogs that could take off a limb if you crossed 'em. We had a Shepherd named Duke that weighed as much as my wife Jilda and we kept him for over 13 years before he passed on. When he died, Jilda and I both wept as if he were a child. Buddy on the other hand, belonged to my mother-in-law Ruby and weighed about 10 pounds soaking wet. He was a yapper and I had thought many times about smothering him with a pillow when we visited her. He was as hyper as a child that has been fed way too much chocolate and this lap dog really got on my nerves. But Ruby loved Buddy and Buddy loved Ruby so it was obvious to me, as far as Ruby and Buddy were concerned, I could learn to deal with it or I could “get lost.” In September (2003) Ruby was working in the yard when she fell and broke her hip and spent the next six weeks in the hospital and in rehab. Jilda remained by her side at the hospital for most of the time and that left me to tend to Buddy. I was not happy with the arrangement, but again it was something I had to do. The first night when I went to feed him and let him out to do his business, he raced out to where Ruby had fallen. He sat down on the spot where she lay until the paramedics rushed her to the hospital. I tried to coax him in the house with food and treats but he would not budge. He simply sat there and stared in the direction in which they took his mamma. I had to physically pick him up and carry him growling, snarling and snapping back in the house. The next day when I returned, it was the same story. I was his only human contact and he did not eat for days. I became worried and considered taking him to the vet but gradually he began to eat a little and he had almost stopped biting me altogether. One Saturday, about three weeks later, when I went down there to feed him, I just sat down on the ground beside him. I took a couple of Slim Jim sausages in my pocket and I broke off little pieces to feed to him while we sat there staring down the road. I know that people passing probably thought I was disturbed, but it seemed like the right thing to do. Slowly he crawled up into my lap and we sat there for a long time. After a while, I walked over to my truck, opened the door and said let's go. Buddy jumped in and he's been with us ever since. Ruby eventually went home but she could tell that things had changed. She also knew that Buddy walked under her feet which made the chance of her falling much greater, so she told us we could keep him but only on the condition that we bring him to visit her….every day. We agreed and he remained with us. These days, Buddy weighs a good bit more than he did when Ruby first got him because he ate here at home and he also ate every time he went to her house too, as long as she was alive. He has calmed down since he came to live with us. He loves to ride in my truck and he especially likes our fishing excursions. He also love cruising in the country with the windows rolled down and when we explore old cemeteries. No, I never thought I could ever love a small dog, but Ol’ Buddy changed my mind. |