Buddy Day!

I just realized today is a very special day, it is the day I got Buddy. So for those who have been under a rock, here is the story.

Six years ago I was working at a dry cleaner in Logan. One of my favorite coworkers was telling me about her older brother. He had a hard life and was going back to jail in a few days. He had been arrested for some drug charges and was going in for sentencing. During this conversation I found out he had a little dog, and my coworker didn’t know what he was going to do with it, she assumed he was going to dump him off in the Layton Hills Mall parking lot, or kill him. I was appalled that anyone would dump their dog off in a parking lot or kill it because they were going to jail. I told my coworker I would go pick the dog up and find him a home. I had no idea what I was in for…

I drove to Syracuse in the evening and found his house, well it wasn’t really a house it was more like a shed that had been added onto a few times. I am not sure there was running water to the “house” but they did have electricity because I could hear American Idol playing inside. I walked through a field buried in snow and knocked on what I assumed was the front door, I heard a dog barking so I was a little more confidant I had found the right place. A few minutes later a dirty, spaced out and high old man answered the door. I asked if he was “Bob” and he said yes, I told him his sister “Jane” had sent me to pick up a dog and was I going to find him a good home. “Bob” was not a very friendly man and told me to wait in the “house” next door. Apparently “Bob’s” side of the duplex-shed didn’t have electricity, but next door was where “Bob” and his friend watched American Idol and did drugs. So I went to the other door of the shed and told that guy why I was there, it was at this time I noticed that not only was “Bob” high, but his friend was getting high at that point. Now, I am not some prude that has never been around drugs…but I have never been around these kinds of drugs, I don’t even know what kinds of drugs they were, but I am assuming by the needles it was meth? Anyway as I am standing there super scared and uncomfortable “Bob” comes in the door carrying this little half hairless, half dog crap encrusted little animal, honestly he barely resembled a dog. “Bob” called him Yazi.

“Bob” told me all about this dog and how he is wild and is hyper all day long and he is not potty trained and bites people, and is a terrible animal. I didn’t know if I really wanted a flea infested biting dog, but I knew the dog needed a better life than this, so I told “Bob” I still wanted to take him home. As “Bob” handed me the dog he suddenly had a change of heart, he now wanted to sell me the dog. I told “Bob” I had no money on me, which I am not sure was a lie or not, and all I had was a pack of smokes. “Bob” agreed to sell me Yazi for half a pack of Camel Lights. I quickly let “Bob” say his goodbyes and made a quick run for the car, “Bob” had another change of heart, he wanted his dog back. I got scared and was running at a sprint for my car, popped the truck with my keyless entry, threw the dog in the trunk and started my car. The tires on my car were spinning in the deep snow and I was getting stuck. I just kept spinning and sinking in the snow, then suddenly I got traction and flew through the field to the main highway, with “Bob” screaming obscenities and chasing me. He chased me to the street and was throwing stuff at my car the whole way. As soon as I got on the road I called my mom, I didn’t know what else to do. I was only about 15 minutes from her house, she told me to come by and she would look at the dog and see how sick he was.

When I got to my moms house I popped the truck (I stopped about a mile from “Bob’s” house and put the dog in a kennel I brought from home) my mom took one look at the dog and said “you need to take him to a vet, he is really sick. Don’t let him out of the kennel he might get your cats sick too.” I drove home freaking out about this mean, dirty, sick dog. I called my boss at the dry cleaner and told him what my mom said and he agreed to let me leave the dog in the kennel at work overnight so my cats wouldn’t get sick.

In the morning I called the vet and told them about the dog and they told me to bring him in first thing. The dog had bladder stones, feces in his ear and in his eyes, a skin bacteria condition which is why his hair was falling out, a rash, and a few other conditions as well. I put him in my car, and took him home. From the minute he got out of the vet’s office he loved me, and only me. He followed me everywhere, he would not leave my side for a second, and when we were apart he would whimper until we were reunited. He was my little buddy, and after a few days of trying to get him to respond to other names, Buddy was what I ended up calling him. I thought about finding him a different home, but we bonded so fast there was no way I could give him up.

We had a rough start, he needed to learn a lot of things, starting with potty training but he learned it all pretty quick and is now the best dog. He can do all sorts of tricks, knows sooooo many commands, and is very well behaved…..now. It was a tough battle for the first year but  Buddy is such a good little dog, and I am so glad that I was able to find him and help him.

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