I’ve never been much of a pet person, but I must admit I have a special fondness in my heart for Buddy, who has been our dog since the first week we moved to Springfield. We got the lovable mutt from the local animal shelter as a puppy, and he’s been with us for 11 years.
Of course some of his behavior is aggravating. He still chases the UPS truck, begs for food from our plates and doesn’t always smell great. And his seemingly constant shedding of fur isn’t a treat for our floors or our lungs. But Buddy is a loyal, obedient friend, walking with me in the pre-dawn hours every morning.
Buddy has a sensitivity toward vulnerable humans. Once when friends visited us and their toddler wandered off from the yard, we found the two-year-old girl down the street, Buddy herding her back to the house. Near the end of my dad’s life, when he would lie down on our couch, Buddy would be right by his side, keeping him company. He also camps outside the door where our one-year-old granddaughter sleeps whenever she spends the night.
For all his typically goofy dog behavior, I must say I’ll miss Buddy when he goes. But if he keeps taking those walks, that might not be for quite awhile.
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