Buddy's Christmas Gift

 If you have been reading these columns, you are familiar with my dog, Buddy.  Buddy came into our lives eleven years ago, a sick and skinny rescue dog picked up off the streets.  When we met him at Corgi Rescue, we could feel the bones in his hips, and he was suffering from “kennel cough.”  But fifteen minutes with Buddy won us over.  We left committed to adopt him.

 It took six weeks for him to get over his kennel cough, put on weight and get all his shots from the vet. I drove back to Corgi Rescue to pick him up and, in a matter of minutes, we were Buddy’s proud, and nervous owners.  He was nervous too.  It took a couple of weeks to adjust.  Eleven years later the vet says he is a “healthy geriatric.”  So am I.

 It was a mystery to me how a tri-color corgi as intelligent, well-mannered and affectionate as Buddy could become a stray on the streets. Then, one day, on one of our neighborhood walks, Buddy told me his story.  I wrote it down, “just as Buddy told it to me.”  It became a children’s book published on Amazon Kindle, Buddy the Floppy Ear Corgi.

 I printed out a copy for our next door neighbor whose daughter was in the third grade.  He read it to his daughter and she took it to school.  The teacher read it to her third grade class. “One boy cried,” she said. 

 Apparently Buddy had this problem when he was young, a floppy ear that proved to be an embarrassment.  All the other respectable corgis had ears that stood up straight and alert, except for Buddy. So, he ran away and became lost on the streets where Barney the Bloodhound befriended him and taught him how to survive. That is, until they were picked up by the dog police.

 Along the way, Buddy learned to love himself and others just the way God made them.  It is a good lesson for all of us to learn.  He also learned the importance of being rescued.  Sometimes we all need to be rescued by someone.  Sometimes we all need to rescue someone else, just like the Good Samaritan story in Luke 10.

 This year, Buddy wants to make his book available for free as a Christmas gift to all of our readers.  Just click on Buddy's picture to the right and download it as a free eBook anytime, December 9-13.  Feel free to forward this to friends so they can have one too! It will make Buddy happy. 

 Buddy is now thirteen years old a little slower and a little fatter.  Our walks are shorter, basically to the mailbox and back.  He never meets a stranger.  It’s something I think he learned from Barney.  His ear doesn’t flop anymore, but he still has a small scar on his nose, a reminder of his “lost days” on the streets in the city. 

 Buddy and I both hope you have a very Merry and safe Christmas.