Yesterday, Buddy Best Dog got to lick his person’s face for as long as he wanted to. No hands pushing his mouth away and only the mildest of complaints about liver-treat breath.
And then we said good-bye.

Buddy Best Dog was indomitable. Somewhere around the middle of his life, he lost his original home and a leg, maybe from a fall out of a moving pickup truck. He was rescued but the leg couldn’t be saved.
But losing a leg didn’t stop Buddy, and it didn’t change his spirit either. He was a typical Lab, all happy goof. He loved the beach, he loved hiking, he loved Frisbee. He loved other dogs — he was the most sociable dog I’ve ever met, always needing to say a friendly hello to any passing dog on the beach and willing to bounce as far as he had to to make that possible. Long after the point where walking was a challenge, he’d make the effort if there was another dog to sniff.
And he loved his people. Yesterday, as it became painfully clear that his failing body was becoming a prison for that indomitable spirit, we promised him that Greg was waiting for him and would be so, so happy to see him. I believe that with all my heart.
But, oh, he will be missed here.
Good-bye, Buddy Best Dog. May your next life be filled with treats and toys and all the love.
Ohh, Wendy, Im so sorry for you and S.
It was a hard day. Thank you for the sympathy!
Always so very hard to say goodbye to our furry family members — but it hurts more to see them in pain. You did the right thing… blessings and healing to you and S.
Thanks! And yes, that was exactly the point Suzanne faced, where the only thing harder than letting him go would have been letting him suffer more.
Sad. So sorry for your loss.
Thank you!
You will meet again when you are both in the spirit world and he will guide you to Greg.
A beautiful image, thank you!
“WeI have sent you on a journey to a land free from pain, not because we did not love you, but because w loved you too much to ask you to stay.”
Yes. So much so. I look at Z and know that day is coming, too — closer all the time. It breaks my heart, but I love her much too much to force her to fight a battle that she will inevitably lose.