Farewell to Buddy

A year and a half ago, we said hello to Buddy.

Two days ago, we said goodbye.

Buddy was a good dog...or put more accurately, has the potential to be a great one.  But to be honest, we never really wanted him.  We took him out of mercy, moved by the pleas of a neighbor boy who was moving away, couldn't take Buddy, and couldn't find anyone else to take him.  We said yes, and Buddy spent the next year and a half in our pasture, well-fed, with an abundance of room to frolic and plenty of companionship from our other dogs, Molly and Jasper.  But therein lay part of the problem.  Buddy and Jasper, both being males, tended to be competitive - imagine that!  Besides getting into tussles, recently the two of them had been breaking out of the pasture, and our situation here is unfortunately not conducive to free-running dogs.  I dreaded the knock on the door or the phone call saying, "Your dog is out again."  Plus, Buddy barked.  At rabbits, squirrels, cats, probably shadows and wind, who knows?  His bark was loud and piercing, particularly in the middle of the night; and as much as we didn't care for it, we also knew that some of our neighbors were even more bothered by it.  In our philosophy, people come first; and we'd rather show consideration to our neighbors than keep a dog that we hadn't chosen in the first place.

In reality, we just weren't the best family for him; and he needed someone who could do more for him.  When he was separated from the other dogs, he was a sweetheart; and I'm sure that he'll do much better with his new owners where he'll be an only dog than he did with us.

Despite our ambivalence about even having him, when the time came to say goodbye, there were some sad little boys.

David, in particular, let his emotions show through leaky eyes and claims of much affection for Buddy.

David loves deeply, that's for sure.  But in the end, there was nothing else to do but take some last pictures, give Buddy goodbye pats, and watch him go off with his new family (which happens to have five boys in it!).

Farewell, little Buddy!  May your days be sweet, full of undivided attention and extra treats from your new owners...and, for their sake, may your nights be especially quiet.  ;-)