Golden Bond Rescue of Oregon

Crossed the Rainbow Bridge October 10, 2011

It was lve at first sight the day we met our sweet Buddy #223 on March 11, 2002 in Coos Bay Oregon. He immediately felt like "ours" as we drove the 4 hour trip back home and he napped on the floor of our van. Buddy was 18 months old the day we adopted him and we lost him to osteosarcoma on October 10th, 2011, just 1 month past his 11th birthday. Up until this illness we considered Buddy to be the healthiest dog we had owned to date. We really expected him to be on of the lucky ones who would make it well into his teen years. Buddy had so many fun and wonderful traits...I could easily rattle of over 30 of them (which I did recently in a scrapbook, actually). Some of my favorites are how he used to hug us, how he quietly followed me around the house all day, how he would often exchange howls with my husband as he did his morning stretch before he ate, how he could catch absolutely any piece of food whether he was asleep when it was tossed or even in some cases several feet from where it was going to land. We loved how smart he was - always letting us know when he needed to get out immediately so he didn't get sick on the carpet. Also the fact that we had him almost 10 years and he never once had an accident in the house. Wow. We loved how our girls were babies when we got him and used him for their pillow and he never ever seemed to mind. How he would downright harass me if I had on my running clothes and he'd make sure we stayed on task with our running for the day. Buddy loved to swim, play catch, hang out on his favorite stair where he could keep an eye on the entire family, go on runs- and probably more than anything - ride in the car. If anyone accidentally left the car door open we could expect to find Buddy sitting in the back seat waiting for his next ride. Buddy came to school for pick ups and drop offs and all the kids at school knew and loved him. When he became sick my daughter's 3rd grade class prayed for him every single day...in fact they would debate a little over who got to pray for him that day. Buddy was loved everywhere he went.

Buddy was loyal to the bone. He would even escape our neighbors yard a few blocks away when they would watch him for us...and walk home and wait for us.

In late September (just weeks after enjoying a glorious camping trip where he hiked and swam) he began to limp and was quickly diagnosed with osteosarcoma. On October 10th Buddy's leg broke and we had to say a very painful goodbye to our faithful and loving companion. We had nearly 10 wonderful years with Buddy though and are so thankful to Golden Bond for matching us with such a beautiful and loving dog.

Sarah and John