Adopting Buddy - our second dog

When we adopted Buddy, a black lab-shepherd-chow mix from the rescue shelter, we did it out of emotional impulse. Not just that, we did it with a quiet sense of dread, wondering how Buddy could possibly love us at eleven and a half years, which is over eighty human years. He was shy and feared every possible thing in the world including us. It was obvious that he didn’t have a good growing up life.

The night we adopted Buddy, the woman at the rescue gave us a yellow, dirty fleece toy. “Buddy came to us with this toy and he loves it,” she said. When I tried walking him on the road outside my house, on the 1-mile pavement leading to a stop sign, he couldn’t even move. How could he start walking when he was visibly bony and weak?

We weren’t even sure if he’d get along with Duke, our 10 year old yellow lab retriever mix.

We had a thorough physical examination done for Buddy the next day. At our regular private veterinary hospital, the doctor informed us about his partial blindness and a mass in his liver, the size of a half-watermelon. 

We’ve had Buddy for almost a month now.  August flew by quickly and we’re nearing the end of summer. After numerous food trials, we are now learning that his favorite food is chicken and rice. He could get his mouth around a whole packet of chicken strips and can persistently knock on the door of our backyard until we open it. He is now eating marginally well and feels a lot more secure and happy.

Buddy is doing road trips with his nose occasionally squeezing between the space of the front windows and our seats. He has brought us into the schedule of everyday dog-walks. Trips to off leash dog parks have increased to multiple times every week. He loves people and he loves dogs.  He waits alongwith Duke at the door every single time we come in to the house and welcomes us like he hasn’t seen us in a million years.

He rests his face on our laps, pants on our faces as we ride in the car, loves jamming his head on the couch and is glued to our heels  even on our way to the restroom.  He has helped shape our physical and mental health – as a couple, as dog lovers, as family, as friends, as adults.  All this in just over two weeks.

This evening, after we returned from a long road trip with the dogs, Buddy ate a medium fat burger, chicken strips, cheese sticks and biscuits. Duke had all these and pleased his palette with glazed doughnuts. Then, both of them claimed their favorite spots in the living room.

Raj (my husband) and I sat on the floor a few feet away from both of them. We were talking about Buddy’s major liver surgery tomorrow and the things we needed to prepare. Buddy and Duke didn’t want to leave their spots, but they couldn’t resist themselves. They came over and rested their heads on our laps, Duke on Raj’s and Buddy on mine. Their tails pounded the floor and they showed us their bellies with their legs stretched out. 

Yes, without Duke and Buddy, we’ll have a fur –less clean house, not smelling of dog perfume, no drools on the floor, a clean garden, more friends visiting us, more money , frequent fantastic travel getaways without having to worry about a reliable dog sitter and boarding facility, no dog wash and no veterinary visits.  We could do without dogs and have all these. Trust me, our lives would never be complete.

It’s strange how two wonderful animals, despite being the center of all our amused and annoyed conversations, all disappointments and unmet expectations, persistently teach us with all their hearts how to give and accept unqualified, unconditional love.    Of course, we have poor learning skills.

There are times, when we ask ourselves, “Why these two remarkable beings would let us into their lives and how would we let them steal our hearts like this?” There is no answer.


Best,
Suma.