In Loving Memory of Buddy

Buddy in his favorite spot

Buddy, at thirteen years old, showed up at a shelter as a stray. We wondered how that could happen. While there are plenty of active GSP’s that are thirteen or older, at some point most lose interest in escaping. As it turned out, it wasn't Buddy's first time at the shelter. He had been picked up as a stray before. A few times before.

Having shown up to the shelter before, Buddy had a microchip. The shelter was able to easily identify and contact Buddy's owner by checking the microchip information. While some might scrutinize surrendering their senior dog to the shelter, others might argue that it was in the best interest of Buddy that the owner relinquish him to the shelter. If the owner couldn't keep Buddy contained, and he was regularly running loose, the chances of something happening to him would go up substantially. Being hit by a car, attacked by another loose dog, or being bitten by a snake are some of the dangers Buddy could have faced. However, most would agree that a responsible dog owner would fix the problem and secure their property. This obviously wasn't an option for Buddy's owner, as he surrendered him to the shelter. With being a senior dog, he had little interest, so the California GSP Rescue pulled him to safety. We knew there would be someone out there who needed Buddy as much as he needed them.

Jim and Jan applied to adopt after they lost their beloved GSP, Gentry, who was almost 13 years old. Jim stated in their application that they wanted to be able to provide a "forever" home for an older dog who might be overlooked for adoption. They said “Giving a home and love to an older dog who can live out his/her life knowing safety and love”.

We were recently notified shortly after our last update about Buddy, with the sad news that he passed away. While our hearts are heavy for the loss of Buddy, we couldn’t be more grateful to Jim and Jan for describing how Buddy had enriched their lives, and in turn we know how much they enriched his. We are forever grateful to Jim and Jan for their continued support, and for making room for Buddy in their home and hearts.

Buddy Dog

“Our Buddy dog passed after having been with us a little over 3 years. Buddy joined our family on the 5th of July 2020 at 13-1/2 years old. We saw his post and reached out to CA GSP Rescue about adopting him as we (my wife Jan and I) wanted to give him a forever home where he would always be loved. Thanks to Greg and Teri, we were filled with joy on his ride “home” as we missed our prior GSP, Gentry, who had passed. Buddy arrived and quickly surveyed our house and property. He loved our large backyard where he could run and hunt lizards and an occasional rabbit or two. What amazed us the most was he decided the closet in our bedroom was his safe space. Repeated attempts to get him to sleep somewhere else all ended in failure, so we moved his crate in there; Jan got him a blanket and pillow for outside his crate, plus a fan to make sure he stayed cool. Jan eventually got another pad and blanket which she put in the living room. Buddy decided that Mom had a great idea since he could lay down there and keep an eye on what we were doing.

Buddy settled in and our “house” became a home again. We became a family, and our activities were always with Buddy in mind. When we had guests, Buddy was amazing; and he became a favorite of 2 of our granddaughters. They would always want to see Buddy and what he was doing when they Facetimed.

There are so many wonderful things Buddy brought into our lives like nudging Jan to take him on a walk, meeting me at the door when I got home from work, or standing in the hallway in the evening looking over his shoulder saying someone needs to walk me to bed.

Our lives were truly blessed and enriched by Buddy’s presence. Jan and I both miss our boy and all the little things he did each day that brought smiles to our faces and love in our hearts. There is a poem by Evelyn Colbath titled Baggage, that I came across in a story about a Rescue Dog, which touched my heart and made me think of Buddy. I am fairly certain Buddy “unpacked” all of his baggage.

Three years went by in a flash, and it wasn’t long enough. Our Buddy was loved and returned that love each and every day. While Jan and I are heartbroken due to Buddy’s passing, we are grateful to have him come into our lives and all that we shared together.

We can’t thank Greg and Teri enough for this most precious gift. He was truly special; I seem to recall someone mentioning that some angels have 4 paws, this was certainly the case with our Buddy.

Thanks once again for bringing Buddy in to our lives”.

Respectfully,

Jim and Jan