Love Goldens - Buddy

How does one express the love they have for their dog?

For the past 9 years I have lived and fulfilled some lifetime dreams. Dream #1 - owing a Golden Retriever and Dream #2 - Becoming an ethical and honest breeder. In December of 2012 - Buddy and Holly joined our family and things have never been the same. I honestly don't even know where to start with my BUDDY, he seriously was the funniest, sweetest and most entertaining dog I have ever owned. He made me laugh on a daily basis. We lost Buddy unexpectedly on September 29, 2021 and his passing has impacted my life on so many levels. I realized that writing about Buddy and trying to capture the gifts he brought to this world - would not only be a healing process for me, but some of you dog lovers out there might enjoy reading my Golden Tales.

My Love Golden Journey began in October of 2012, I had made a promise to my two children that when I finished my Master's Degree program we could get a dog. I was scheduled to finish my degree in December of 2012 and my husband and I decided to surprise the kids with puppies on Christmas morning. Yes - not A puppy, but puppies! A life long dream of mine has always been to be a breeder, I wanted to breed when I was a child, but my parents were not open to it, so it moved onto my bucket list. And FINALLY it was going to become a reality. Finding 2 purebred puppies with full health clearances was not as easy as people may think, and the dishonesty that comes with dealing with people online, continues to blow my mind (but that is another story altogether).

By the end of November I had found amazing breeders for both Buddy and Holly. I was able to travel to meet Holly and her littermates and was able to choose her, although she really choose me. Wouldn't leave my side at all and fell asleep on my chest, under my chin and I was hooked. She was my dog. However, Buddy was too far to make a day trip to visit him, his breeder and I spoke on the phone, skyped etc. weekly so I could watch all the pups grow. And finally the day came to go pick up our pups! My husband headed off to get our male puppy and I went to get the female. My parents were in on the surprise and took the kids for us, so we could 'hide' the pups from them, we were determined to surprise them Christmas morning, and we would need everyone in on the suprise if we wanted to pull it off.

It is important to me to tell Buddy's story, but honestly it's Holly's story too, because they were true soulmates and rarely did anything without the other. As I mentioned my husband Mike, was the one to meet Buddy for the first time, in fact he ending up picking him out. The breeder was going to keep one of the males, so when Mike got there to pick him up there were two males to choose from, the breeder said she couldn't make up her mind on which one to pick, so she decided to let Mike make the impossible choice. He said it was impossible to choose they were identical in every way, he finally just went with the one who seemed to come to a tad more interested in him, and that is when that puppy become our Buddy.

We did not name the pups at this point, secretly, Mike and I wanted to name them Daisy & Duke, but we wanted our children to have an active role in naming the pups and I knew they loved the name Buddy from the Air Bud Movies (they were 7 and 5 in 2021) so Buddy & Holly were on the shortlist. I was correct the kids called him Buddy from the moment he met them.

Buddy was a big boy. When we first got him home, I was shocked at how much bigger he was than Holly, especially since he was a week younger, and what a cuddle bug. Both pups loved affection and cuddling but Buddy would be the first on our laps, loved to tuck his head under our chins and would stay there as long as we would let him or if he got too hot.

Buddy was full of energy, I was very thankful we had our acreage for them to run free, Buddy spend a little time everyday chasing birds, squirrels, running the fence line with the neighbours bobcat or horses. He did not have a mean bone in his body, he was a gentle soul, albeit a massive chicken. His lack of courage showed up in many amusing ways. When they ran into a porcupine, the girls came back with multiple quills in their faces - Holly must have been first and closest as she had the most, but Bud had one quill in his nose and that was it, I burst out laughing when I think of him chasing the porcupine but using Holly as a buffer and when the quills started coming, he got hit with one, turned and hightailed it back to the house. And getting that quill out took more effort from both Mike and I than all of Holly's quills combined, he was such a wimp, a gentle giant.

Buddy and Holly were the smartest dogs I had ever owned, their ability to catch on to a trick or command blew my mind, no wonder they were always selected by the trainer to do the examples, they made the trainer look good. We should have continued with the training, and added agility games, I think both my dogs would have loved it.

The first year of their life was pretty typical, except for genetic testing and hip and elbow clearances, etc, there is a quite a bit of work to do before you start breeding and it is very expensive, so we had to spread it out over the year and a half, which was completely fine as I was not going to start breeding until Holly had a heat cycle and a chance to just be a young dog, before she had to be a mother.

Buddy was an outstanding stud, he was determined and always successful during his mating cycles. The first litter we had my heart broke for Buddy as Holly would not allow him in the house, she was so protective over the puppies, I told Bud he might need to get a custody lawyer and demand some visitation rights. However, after 24 hours, Holly realized that Buddy could and would do the "potty" duties and she started to allow him to enter the whelping box. (Potty Duties: Newborn pups cannot go poop or pee without stimulation from the mom's tongue) Buddy loved this time, Holly would lay back and nurese and he would take care of all the pups toileting needs. He LOVED his babies, always wanted to see them and be with them and spend most of his time laying right beside their box. As they grew he was their first playmate, he let them crawl all over him, bite his ears and tail and he did not care, his pups always try to "nurse" him and nothing bugged him. His biggest problem with his pups was allowing them to have toys, Buddy always took the toys for himself, I don't think he could help himself being a big baby himself.

Over the years we added Peggy-Sue to our pack and Daisy, Buddy now had 3 wives and he doted on each and every one of them. He successfully created beautiful pups with all three of his lovely ladies and his babies have brought countless amounts of happiness to our forever families. Every day with Buddy was joy. He illuminated happiness and what is good in this world and I am forever changed because of him. He made my life long dream come true to become a breeder and he helped through many personal hardships and was my emotional support dog as I dealt with health issues in my life.

However there was one shadow that hung over Buddy, one that makes me so sad, because knowing what I know now, I would (and am) doing things different when it comes to their food, supplements and even vet interventions. As I mentioned earlier, Buddy was a big puppy, and he continued to grow at a much faster rate than Holly, I asked a couple of vet's about it in his first year because he just seemed to be grow so much faster than Holly, needed more food, and seemed to get injuries more frequently than any dog I had ever owned before. The vet's told me it was nothing to worry about, and I should feed him according to his weight and age. I have now learned that rapid growth in the first year can and often does cause joint issues, and the importance of oil,probiotics and a joint health supplement in their daily diet. We knew he didn't have any joint issues as his xrays at both 1 year and 2 year were clear and he was not a carrier of the major cancer causing genes, so the vet said any of these issues were environmental, but could not give me an firm examples of what I had done wrong or what I should have done differently. So I ended up finding out for myself, I took courses over a 2 year span and become a certified pet nurtirion coach. I completely changed all of my dog's diet from strictly kibble and some fresh food, to a diet mixed with a new kibble, fresh meat and veggies, couple times a week raw, and daily supplements and honestly could not believe the changes it made in not only Buddy, but Holly, even though Holly was in perfect healthy and mobility, she started to have a ton of more energy and was playing like a puppy again. Buddy stopped having to stretch the kinks out in the morning and ran the yard like a pup again. I was hooked, I signed up for another pet nurtrion class and natural remedies for your dogs, and we did not need to go to the vet again - except for a couple pregnancy related issues for 3 years - I treated scrapes and cuts, fevers, low energy all on my own using natural supplements and homemade products. Daisy is only 3 years old and has been eating this way and receiving daily supplements and is in absolute perfect health. Our new puppy Tucker, is on a slow growth-rate diet and daily supplements and so far he is in supreme health.

Buddy's whole life changed once we made the adjustments to his diet and we did not see the vet again until 2 days before we lost him. For about 3-4 years we had no health issues with any of our dogs, which would blow my mind sometimes, how can I have 4 Golden Retrievers and no vet bills? One reason, I was using daily preventive steps and they were working; Reason two I had learned how important their diet is to maintain good health. But at the end of September 2021, we decided to take Buddy to the vet, as he had a limp for over a week and the usual remedies seemed to only be managing his discomfort, he never yelped or showed any indications of pain, but he seemed to be favouring is left front shoulder, after about 7 to 10 days we took him to the vet to have xrays done, just to see what was going on, the xrays showed some arthritis (which we had suspected was happening as it does with most Goldens after the age of 7-8, if not even earlier depending on their health) our vet gave us some a couple of medications, and they told me all of the risks etc, you know the ones, COULD cause nausea, vomiting, diaherra, blood clots, strokes, it was a long long list. They gave me enough for 7 days, but we lost Buddy on day 3. I want to make it clear I do not blame the vet or anyone else, however on day 3, Buddy had a stroke, He stopped moving and went in and out of a sleeping/conscious state. The vet said he might have thrown a blood clot which caused a small stroke, and this could be a side of the medication or just bad luck, and unless we want to perform an autopsy we will never really know. I took Buddy home and I could see that he was getting worse with each episode, he stopped walking altogether and we put him in his favourite spot, to quietly pass away. My husband picked up my son from school, my daughter drove herself home and we all spent the day with Buddy. Holly was also around, she seemed to know what was happening and would just lay beside him, her soulmate. I know Holly was Buddy's true love and even in his condition I could see his tail wag, even slightly when she came near. When Bud took his last breath we were all there touching him and loving him, I know he was at peace.

It's been 4 months since I lost my Bud, and it has taken that long to be able to write this down without breaking down into sobs. I miss him terribly, but I feel him all around me. When I am outside with the pack, I feel him telling me "smile Mom, I am right here!" When I look at Buddy "Tucker" Jr. who doesn't look like his Dad, but seems to have inherited his spirit and personality, I feeled blessed to feel my Buddy Love. I am forever changed from having Buddy in my life and I will miss him each and every day, but I also know he would want me to remember him with laughter and joy or don't remember him at all.