This weekend I had to say my last goodbye to my best furry friend, my dog, Buddy, who has been a firm part of my life for about ten years. I will always love him and I miss him so much. He was such a good dog, a true part of the family and we are all heartbroken. The photo above is the last I had taken of him, which I took about a week ago, when I was taking care of him whilst my parents were away on a conference. He was still his wonderful cheerful self and we had had a great time, it’s so strange to think he’s gone now. The world just isn’t the same. I spent Sunday with him but he was already gone, but I am glad that I got to say goodbye to him. He meant so much to me and my family. Farewell Buddy, I love you.

I thought I’d share the story of how I got Buddy in the first place. And dedicate the rest of this post to him and our treasured memories. We had a lovely ten years together and I wouldn’t change them for the world.

I had just graduated from high school and as is tradition in my family, I got to choose a gift for passing my final exams. I remember my brother had chosen a watch when he graduated although I can’t recall what my sister picked. But for me it was a simple decision: I had always wanted a dog. I was never allowed one, because my family kept moving around (I grew up in France and in Maryland, US, although we come from Prague, Czech Republic, where we are all currently living at the moment) but I had always wanted one so much.

I had the breed BULL TERRIER in mind and was looking for a suitable puppy but then one day soon afterwards my brother came to me with an ad from the pound. There, a three and a half year old dog named Buddy was looking for a new home. He had hardly any fur, poor thing, and it was apparent from the picture in the advert that he had his tail broken. He also had worms and a bad eye infection. But the look he had on his face…that look went straight to my heart and I knew right away that that is my future dog. I called the pound and it took a while to get the proceedings happening since he was of poor health I had to wait until they “cured” him of the worms (they so didn’t btw) before I could go pick him up.

The pound was located in a little village somewhere far far away and my brother and I packed up the car and went for a lovely road trip. We arrived in the village Maly Jenikov and finally found the pound and there was Buddy, super excited that he had visitors. We were a bit uncertain and so they told us to take Buddy for a walk and see if we were a good match. I had already bought Buddy a new leash so I snapped it on him and we went out for a walk. Buddy was so happy, (he obviously wasn’t walked much, poor thing) and quickly ate a piece of bone that he found on the ground. he was really enjoying his walk when he happened upon some other dog’s dried poo. What he did next was he literally threw it at me with his paw. I laughed so hard I almost cried. That decided it: this dog had character and he was going home with us.

We went back in the pound and signed the papers and I gave them a donation and we put Buddy in the back of the car and headed back home. Buddy would not stay in the back of the car and jumped over the seats and was trying to play with my brother who was driving so in the end I had to have Buddy on my lap (he smelled really bad too poor little dude) and his tail kept hitting the stick shift:) After we finally got home we opened the door and my parents greeted Buddy (they were against me getting him because he had looked so awful without the fur and everything plus they were a tad worried about his breed if bull terriers are too aggresive, but they’re nice people so they let me have him) and he ran into the house, tail wagging like it’s his birthday, ate his dinner that was waiting for him in the kitchen in a bowl and then jumped on the couch and smiled. The dog was smiling because he knew he was home.

It’s been years and I must say that Buddy was the most amazing dog ever. He was a true friend. There may have been a few problems on the way (he was allergic to a few foods and his paws get bad in the winter if we’re not careful, and we had to teach him not to attack hedgehogs – that was his one vice,hunting hedgehogs) but it all was worth it. He went on to have such lovely fur that people stopped me on the streets to ask me if he was a show dog. My parents went on to absolutely love him, he became their baby and by the time I moved into my rented flat, they begged me to keep him, winning the argument because they have a garden.

Buddy was a joy to have in our lives and he was an important part of our family, we all will miss he very much. As sad as I am that he is gone, I am also very grateful that he was in my life. He made me a better person and definitely made my life better by being in it. Life is funny that way I guess. But that summer adventure was one of the best moments in my life. Thanks for letting me share it with you.