Ann, Tess & Budge
In third grade my teacher gave the class an essay assignment. The essay was to be about what we would do
if someone gave us one hundred dollars. It took me about two seconds to decide that if I ever obtained
that huge sum of money, I would buy a pet shop full of puppies! I had to wait a few years before a dog
came into the family--I was 13 when my brother and his fiancee brought home a cute little black and
white puppy from a flea market. We named her Mel (I've no idea why!).
Mel was a fox terrier mix and had epilepsy. I spent hours in the back yard with her teaching her tricks,
and she was great at jumping hurdles and through a hula hoop! She would also jump up into my arms to retrieve
a treat held in my teeth! Unfortunately, the epilepsy took Mel at the young age of five years.
My next dog was also black & white - a sweet little border collie mix adopted from the Humane Society.
I named her Tully, and she was my constant companion, accompanying me to the barn where I boarded my horse and running alongside on trail rides.
Tully was so scared when I first adopted her that she hid under the couch. She didn't know how to bark or play, but my roommate's collie
gave her a crash course in being a dog, and soon she was fetching balls with the best of them. Tully too lived a short life. She died of an unknown
disease just a few years after I got her.
Dog number three was--what else--black & white! Her name was Tess and my then-husband gave her to me as a gift one Christmas. It was all I
had wanted under the tree! She also came from the Humane Society, from a litter of 13 pups, and was a border collie/lab mix.
Tess was the dog-love of my life!
We had that special connection that comes along so rarely between dog and human. Tess and I could be hanging
out at home--she stretched out on the couch sleeping, and me on the easy-chair watching tv--when suddenly I'd
hear a thumping noise and look over to see Tess gazing at me and wagging her tail. My dear beloved Tess left
for the other side of the bridge in September 2004 after being diagnosed with spondylosis and a tumor in her
hip joint. I miss her so much.
And now there's Budge! Budge was adopted from GLBCR in April, 2004. He's just a big, good natured boy whose hobbies are running outdoors, swimming, cuddling and figuring out how to defeat my attempts to keep him out of the kitchen garbage can! Budge is a black & white border collie/retriever mix He's a great companion and pal and is doing a stellar job at training me how to be a better dog owner!
I had such a positive experience adopting Budge from GLBCR that in January of 2005 I decided to become a volunteer. Budge has mixed feelings about me volunteering. While he loves to go on home visits and meet new people and dogs, he's not sure he likes it when I bring home foster dogs or spend time on the computer checking my GLBCR e-mails. But he puts up with it as long as I keep him supplied with tasty things to chew on!!
Budge
Frosted Budge |
