Animal Updates

blonde buddy

Carol · Jul 25, 2013

lynn has been after me to write his eulogy, i wanted to wait til i could put in a nice picture..lynne wins.

blonde buddy has a personal connection for me, he belonged to one of my daughter's students whose mom sadly passed away. it made me sad that this young man lost his mom and then his dog because he had to go live with his older brother where dogs were not allowed, it was sad for the boy and it was sad for his dog. life is not very fair.

buddy was 15 and a half when he came here to live, that is pretty darn old for a yellow lab. he had some arthritis and painful hips, and tempermentally he was a bit of an anxious guy around here.

when lynne lost big bambi, her other beloved foster dog, she asked about taking jelly in. jelly has been sitting around here for years, no one ever applies to adopt her and yet she is such a very nice dog.

when push came to shove and i thought about it, i thought blonde buddy needed out of here more. lynne already loved him so when i said, jelly is happy here but blonde buddy is not, lynne was happy to make the switch in fosters and bring blonde buddy home.

i have no doubt that the last few months of his life were as good as they possibly could be. lynne made sure he went for great walks, ate great food and felt loved constantly. buddy, had a family that he lost, but he found a new family in the end.

providing end of life foster care is not always easy. it is hard to only get to love them for a few months and then lose them. once the heart loves, well it loves...you can't measure the heartbreak by time, you measure it by the hole they leave behind.

and at the end of the day when blonde buddy passed away, lynne's heart was broken but buddy's heart was full. and that is the way it is supposed to be, they pass happy;
it is a gift.

Comments

lynne

he was a lovely old boy did not have him for too long but enjoyed him and loved him while i had him. i was just thinking the things i do not miss are his shedding, my god do yellow labs shed, and trying to find at the end what he liked to eat, as food always upset his tummy. i miss his big brown eyes looking up at me. miss his love of eating ice cubes, his always following me around. his burying his head into my lap for another cuddle and when we were going for a walk, he had his leash on and always had to carry it in his mouth that was really cute. just miss him he was a great dog. thanks to all for their caring

Lenore Henry

Hi Lynne - we only met Blonde Buddy on a few occasions and he seemed like a lovely old boy. What a wonderful last few months he must have had as your companion. It is people like you, Carol and all the staff and volunteers at Saints who do so much for our beloved animals, especially in their final days. Thank you.

Lenore and Owen Henry

Barb H

That was beautiful.

lynne

thankyou carol that was a great remembrance of buddy sorry to bug you about it, i just wanted people to know his story and remember him.

erin

he was a really cool dog and it sucks that his time with lynne was so short. youll never be forgotten, buddy.

Ann

this is a really beautiful line-and observation: "once the heart loves, well it loves…you can’t measure the heartbreak by time, you measure it by the hole they leave behind"

Candy

Hello Carol, I have been reading this blog for the past 5 months and I want to thank you and the staff and volunteers for giving these animals a good quality of life in their golden years. I have a 15 year old Sheltie too so I especially sympathize when senior dogs. I am writing here is because my dog Teddy had become extremely picky with his food for a year now and these few weeks became especially hard to give him a meal that he would happily finish. I would love to feed him whatever he wants but also afraid I won't be providing a balanced diet and compromised his health. Do you have any ideas what I can try? (i cook for him already but he would still turn down foods he used to love). If possible, any advice will br appreciated. He is my first and only dog so I don't have much experience with taking care of a senior dog. I would do whatever is needed to keep him eating and happy.

Ali

That was beautiful. And Lynne- you are a very special and beautiful lady - thanks for taking care of so many :)

Curt

I like it too!

Fiona

What a lovely eulogy. Buddy was a pretty special dog and I am so glad that Lynne took him home and gave him a very comfortable last few months where he felt safe.