# my first dogs...LONG



## maxsmom1229 (Apr 12, 2007)

talking on the phone with mom today and she brought up my first dogs. got me to thinking. i guess i never realized how much of an impact they put on my life. 
first was buddy and sandy... sandy came first my MOM snuck her home in her backpack on the school bus her senior year of highschool. sandy was the size of your hand. clearly not ready to leave mom yet. she was in a box on the side of the road in a very busy city, and you guessed it...covered in SAND. she was a petite light colored GSD. she was fiercely loyal. 
buddy came next when i was just a baby. buddy was a goofy, silly, hyper i wanna be your friend kinda guy.he was a bi-color GSD.my mom brought him home from the humane society. 
sandy and buddy stayed living at my nanas house while we were bounced around in apartments. due to hard financial times. never more then a bike ride from nanas though. everyday i was there with my 2 dogs. and boy did they love each other. i used to share my popsicles with them, swim with them, brush them "train" them...or so i thought. when really they were the ones training me. id walk them everywhere. i remember one of the greatest gifts i ever got....it was a leather leash splitter so i could walk the both of them off one leash. they taught me the meaning of patience hardwork, and above all unconditional love. i really am not trying to pull a "woe is me" story, but i was the poor, nerdy fat girl with asthma and a very awkward child growing up. (i went through puberty at 8 yrs old, so stuff was very weird for me before i really knew what was happening! LOL) i knew my dogs didnt care that my clothes never matched, or that i couldnt run as fast. they loved me for loving them. and thats all i could have asked for. 
i took the bus stop closest to nanas house since her area was more suburban and i walked there after school anyway. nana and the dogs would meet me at the bus stop everyday. rain or shine. it was about 2 blocks away from her house. my gramps died while i was at school one day. nana didnt come to meet me at the bus stop, but my dogs did by them selves! they werent let out, they OPENED the latch gate. i was so surprised when i didnt see nana there. i was scared something had happened to her. me and the dogs got home in a hurry and found everyone there fussing over arrangements and nana. noone even knew the dogs left.... from then on they met me with or without nana. i realize now this is dangerous but my nana thought it was cute i guess. and figured they could handle them selves. 
well one fatefull and horrible day, i got off the bus to find only buddy there. i got home to nanas and she wasnt there either. nana told me they left together. we had search parties high and low flyers everywhere, notifications at the shelter. (my mom volunteered there) one day passed, one week passed, one month passed, and then one year passed....i was still looking for her. i was crushed then, and i still am. i think about her often. and always wonder what happened with her. 
buddy was never the same without her. buddy lived to the ripe old age of 14. he was nanas companion. they spent long days on the porch. she would spray him down if she thought he was too hot in the summer being mostly black lol. he just stood there... as a young dog he was full of energy, life. it was hard to watch him age, and eventually start living his days in pain. he was the old man dog, that if you layed on the floor with him, and just looked into his dark dark eyes. he would tell you stories. stories of life and love, and forgiveness. he taught me more then any book, or teacher. he was so wise. so **** smart. and i remember him having the most human like facial expressions. when i spoke to him, the way he looked at me, watched me, and moved his head and ears, im convinced to this day he knew what i was saying to him. one day buddy woke up and couldnt walk. he layed in his spot and urinated all over himself. he cried. and wouldnt make eye contact . he was mortified. dad came and lifted him into the back of the truck. i buried my face in his thick grey neck. i didnt cry, i wanted to be strong for him like he was for me for 14 years... i didnt want him to leave me being upset, or thinking i needed him. i didnt want him to feel bad for leaving.that was the last time i saw buddy. 
Now onto annie. annie wasnt my dog persay, she belong to my other grandparents. they got annie, a GSD/rottie mix from the local shelter on a whim. my baba (granny) was blind, and my poppy didnt like to leave her home alone. annie was smart as a whip. she was tall lanky all shepherd body, with a rottweilers coloring. she was quiet, calm and very obedient. my grandparents spoiled the crap out of her but she didnt act like a spoiled dog. she knew her place. she listened to every word that came out of poppys mouth. it was like she couldnt wait for him to direct an order at her. she loved working for him. she was great with us kids too. very very tolerant. she would help my baba through crowds of people and wouldnt let anyone sneak up on her, not being trained to do this. what i also dont get is how my baba would tell her to fetch any random object, and SHE WOULD GET IT. she wasnt trained with these items...she just did it. she could open and close doors, turn on and off lights...even the ceiling fan. she would get on the dining room table (we never used this table just for the record!!) and pull the correct cord for either the fan or light whatever you wanted on. she could distinguish between the juice, milk or soda, depending on what baba wanted. baba was also insulin dependent, and would lay on her feet everytime she got a shot, as if comforting her without getting in her way. it was just miraculous the extent she would go to for my grandparents. and with no formal training. she was just so happy to be their dog. my baba passed away from heart problems at home alone. annie kept her warm untill poppy came home to find her. my poppy died a few weeks after....the doctor says from natural causes. i say from a broken heart. that left us, a 5 person family in a 1 bedroom apartment that didnt allow animals with a big dog. we snuck around with her for about 2 weeks before anyone noticed....or said anything i should say. people had to have noticed. we were caught and told us it was either we left with the dog, or stayed with no dog. my mom dropped annie off at the no kill shelter while we were at school to save us some drama. i was just so mad because i remember what a good service she had done for my grandparents i felt we owed it to her to give her a good life. after a week of not talking to my mom...(i was too young to understand that if we kept the dog we would be living in a box) my mom had us write letters to annie and we were able to go to the shelter and give them to the lady that ran the place. my mom didnt want us to go see annie in the shelter cause she didnt want to upset us or her. the lady told us she takes annie out every day for walks and will read her our letters when we leave. she said she knew how special annie was to us and our grandparents and she promised not to let anything bad happen to her. i felt better about it. but think of her everyday as well

RIP SANDY BUDDY AND ANNIE i know you are all in a better place now. i love you all and will never forget any of you. thanks for everything. and maybe one day we will share popsicles and secrets again.

i will never forget any of my dogs. but these dogs as my firsts i guess stand out a little more. please appreciate your dogs, and what you have with them today. dont wait till its too late. learn from them and love them. they will always be your best friend. you are always number one in their book, and you should make them number one in yours.


any other childhood dog stories to share? i think i used enough tissues typing mine.


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## MoongazrNH04 (Feb 9, 2004)

Sitting here blubbering...


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## maxsmom1229 (Apr 12, 2007)

aw thanks so much for reading that whole thing. i cried too, but i felt much better after. essentially, its really only after they arent around around anymore that you realize how much they have really impacted and made a difference in your life.


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## Qyn (Jan 28, 2005)

That was really wonderful to read. Thanks for sharing such moving stories of your family dogs.


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## CarLooSHoo (Feb 26, 2009)

That was so beautiful. When I read the part about how you shared your popsicles with your dogs, it reminded me of my first dog (a black lab named Binx). I shared all my popsicles with him too









I still think about my doggies to this day, tear up at night even! But isn't it amazing how an animal can change our lives?


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## DorianE (Jan 5, 2009)

Wow, Brandy a little chi/poodle mix and Charlie the beagle. I had not thought about them in many years! Charlie was my baby, through the tough times of teenagers and he could jump boxes, lawn chairs, sit, stay, come, and walk the prettiest ring in my back yard you ever imagined! Thanks for bringing back memories that had been packed away in my backpack of crap for a very long time. I cant stop smiling!


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