Buddy
Buddy's life before being adopted was rough. His picture shows a frightened baby who did not start with love. The first time my husband and I met Buddy was in 2013 after my daughter adopted him from Dallas Animal Services for her children as a Christmas gift. He was full of energy and, being a young fur baby, trouble could be his middle name. He loved attention and was constantly jumping, chasing, and even taking things out of your hands. When my daughter had to unexpectedly move from a rent house to an apartment who did not allow dogs, our oldest granddaughter came to us in tears and asked if we could take him. We talked it over and he came to be our fur baby.
With a new home and new yard, there was so much to get into. Bringing a fur baby home is a lot of responsibility as you have to make sure they are fed, walked, bathed, and cared for medically, while also having to make plans for them if you go out of town. He had his own idea of protecting us. His first day 2 garden hoses had to surrender to him, cables running down the house were ripped out, and he helped in the garden by making room to bury his rawhides. We quickly learned to cover or remove anything a young one would find tempting, including items found on the inside of our house like shoes (he thought we needed his help in adding air holes!) Everything he did, he did with a sparkle in his eyes. The responsibility has been worth it, He adores us and his love is returned more than we can say.
A couple of years back, we were at church for Lent services. Our phones went off as ADT was calling John and myself to inform us our alarm had gone off and the police were being sent to our house. Benny, our neighbor, also called to tell us that he could hear Buddy barking and saw him in the window jumping. Our fear was someone had hurt him. When we arrived at our house, an officer greeted us and said he walked around and no windows were open or broken and the back door was still locked. He showed us that our door had been kicked but said that Buddy had likely met them at the door and they quickly left. He said we have a champion in Buddy and no one was going to hurt us. We love him and know that he was sent to us for more reasons than I can write.
His cancer diagnosis broke our hearts. Our time is so short with them and to add something that can make it shorter, made us feel helpless and lost and wonder the forbidden question ... why? When making our appointment with VSNT, we asked if they could help us with any groups that might be able to help us pay for Buddy’s treatment. They told us about Dogslife. He has a chance because of you. We know this is giving us a little more time. Time to watch the twinkle in his eyes and play tug of war. Time to continue to give him our love as we are truly grateful to have his love, his excitement for each day, and his protection. Because of Dogslife we have the chance to get a few more hugs, walks, and probably even a few more garden hoses.
- Pat and John Mangham (April 2019)