My best friend was abandoned at 11 weeks old and was found walking along a railroad track in the middle of nowhere, North Carolina. He has golden brown, short fur, droopy cheeks, and chunky paws. It was love at first Facebook picture. His name is Buddy and he’s a rescue dog.  

I’m sure there are tons of people who are obsessed with their pets, but today I want to share why I am and why Buddy is so special to me.

One year before adopting Buddy, my Great Dane named Nikko, passed away. He was the perfect dog. Well behaved, cute, silly, protective, smart. I could see it in his eyes that he loved us. I loved Nikko very much, but we adopted him when I was very young. I was excited but I don’t think I was mature enough yet to appreciate a dog as a pet. I took him for granted because he was always there. Until he wasn’t. 

 When Nikko became really sick he was talking about ten pills a day, I still have the alarms for each prednisone in my phone. His mind was healthy and alert. But unfortunately, his body was not. One day, he collapsed on the floor and couldn’t get back up. That’s when my parents decided it was time. After his death, I told myself and my parents that I never wanted another dog again because the loss hurt so much. Nikko’s death was the first death I ever experienced so close to me. 

My family and I constantly thought about Nikko.“Nikko would’ve loved being at the park with us right now.” “Remember when Nikko would stand on our feet.” “Remember when Nikko would try to sit on us like a lap dog.”

I still miss him and wish I could play with him one more time.

One year after Nikko passed away, my dad and brother slowly started to mention adopting another dog. My mom and I were skeptical. I was really sad after losing Nikko because I felt like he deserved more even though in my heart I know we took the best care of him. After a bit, my mom and I started to warm up to the idea of adopting again. She began looking for puppies online and she found this little brown dog with big paws, droopy lips and floppy ears. He was adorable.

My dad, brother, my three cousins and I took a trip to the rescue shelter he was in. I noticed him outside behind a gate as soon as we pulled into the driveway. “That’s him!” I said to my dad. We got out of the car and my cousins and brother ran off to the new litter of puppies that were in an area off to the side. I went straight toward the little 14-week old puppy.

He came up to me and my dad and was super excited with his tail wagging so hard his body was shaking. He had a cut where his head met his neck. The woman who ran the rescue shelter said he got that from trying to escape from his cage a couple of days before. My cousins and brother then ran over to see who I was playing with and the little dog was even more excited. Then the dog got bored and probably hot and walked back into his dog house. I Could not leave without him….. but dad said we had to. So we went home and I told my mom “Look I know we said we didn’t want to get another Dog after Nikko, but this one is soooooooo cute you have no idea.”

She was still skeptical, even though she technically picked him out herself online. Finally, after a ton of begging, she caved. On July fourth we went back to the rescue shelter picked him up and named him Buddy. I told my self that I would give this puppy all the love and attention I could and I’d do it for both him and Nikko. 

Buddy is a handful who has brought happiness into our lives, as most dogs do. I’m glad that we made the decision to get another dog because even though loss hurts, I’m grateful for the time we do get to spend with our pets.