Hi Darling,
The Carr-Fassett family has a lot to be grateful about. If you’ve been following our adventures on Facebook and Instagram (where I post most of my personal pix and lots of animal adoption updates) you know that we found a big ole blessing in the woods (with the help of some awesome New Yorkers!): A sweet, emaciated (35 pounds underweight), sick and struggling-to-stay-alive, hound dog who we named…Buddy!
After weeks of searching for his owner, making countless trips to the vet, nursing him back to health around the clock (how do you moms out there do it?!), and showering him with love, respect and compassion, it’s official—he’s doing great and we’re keeping him! He’s our soon-to-be-healthy boy now and we couldn’t be happier. Welcome sweet Buddy!
Today Buddy is quite the celebrity. Thousands of people from around the world have been praying for him and cheering him on (#gobuddygo). Folks have been logging into their social media accounts just for Buddy, especially on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
If you’re one of those people, I just want to take a moment to thank you. I know your love matters. It’s been part of his medicine and ours.
What’s more, I’ve read at least a dozen comments from people who went out and adopted a first or second fur-child. And countless others who have said, “now you’ve really got me thinking, I really want to adopt.” Booyah! Nothing makes me happier. I swear I’ve cried hundreds of heart-opening tears as I read all the love and possibilities. You all are so wonderful, yet another reason I have to be grateful.
When I first saw this skinny guy, I knew the road would be long.
And I heard the voices in my head: “Um, you don’t have time for this. He’s too sick. You’re already spread too thin. Lola doesn’t like to share. You travel too much. He’s bigger than your house. He’s a hunting dog, you eat plants!” Sound familiar? I bet you have practical voices that tell you not to do stuff you really want to do too.
Soon I came to understand that Buddy was my spiritual lesson.
I constantly talk about the importance of loving kindness—extended to all beings. How could I pick and choose when it’s convenient? How could I not take this guy into my life and heart. Brian felt the same way (thank the Gods!).
That was our rubber meets the road moment.
Who better than us to care for this guy? We have 16 acres of woods to explore, 6 of which are fully fenced in—crucial for Buddy’s built-in wanderlust. We work from home. We love animals. We want more joy in our lives. It quickly became a no-brainer.
As for Lola, she’s dealing and healing too. I think Buddy is the only brother she’d ever tolerate. Because he was so malnourished and wounded, she gave him space and reverence. Though she really doesn’t appreciate when he takes over her bed (that’s way too small for him), I think she likes to have a pal to trot around and explore with (which he is slowly starting to do). We’re doing our best to make her feel super special during this time. Translation: She’s getting chubby. “Hello piglet, enjoy it now cause it ain’t gonna last!”
After only a few days, Buddy is putting on weight—close to a pound a day. His coat gets shinier, his eyes get brighter and his tail wags more and more. He’s even starting to look our way when we call his name!
I wanted to express how lucky we feel to have the chance to make a difference in Buddy’s life.
If you decide to bring an animal into your home this holiday season, please consider adoption. So many beings suffer senselessly in shelters. Sadly, many of them die there, never knowing any kindness or cuddles. If you’ve got a rescued fur-baby, you know what I mean. You also understand that they know you saved them—it’s a bond like no other. And boy do they appreciate it.
Unconditional love heals.
Thanks for listening! He continues to heal. As do we.
There’s nothing better than happy trails and waggy endings!
Public Service Announcement: For all the hound dog lovers out there—consider a GPS collar. Hunting dogs and hounds are lead by their nose. They get lost easily and really need our help. Tragically, many hunting dogs go missing during hunting season, and others get left behind if they aren’t top performers.
Your turn: Share your adoption story in the comments below (and congrats to Lisa Henbest, my Crazy Sexy Kitchen contest winner!)
Peace & wags,
I found Bruno on PetFinder.com. He had been at the shelter for over two months. He had been picked up as a stray, abandoned to survive on his own in the Colorado plains. No one wanted him. The shelter said he was 10, but he looked older. His teeth were worn, he was lethargic and he looked a bit scary. One look at him and I fell in love. I didn’t notice that he was kinda “ugly ducking” looking. When I brought him home, my husband made a comment about how “uncute” he was. It’s true. He was sickly and malnourished. His coat was dull and rough like a porcupine and it hurt to pet him. He had a huge tick on his chest that I didn’t see until we got home. Both of his eyelashes were flipped inside and had been rubbing on his eyes his WHOLE life! Can you imagine! He had scare tissue built up on his eyes and they were constantly tearing up. We got surgery on him right away. He also had a scrotal infection from a poorly performed neuter. Poor guy. I immediately put him on a high quality, raw diet and we bathed him in love. His coat became shiny and soft. His eyes cleared and the scare tissue went away. He would run around and do a funny “circle dance”. He was the SWEETEST thing. He never showed aggression to any human. He LOVED my nieces and would follow them around. One morning I woke up to find him asleep on the couch with one of my nieces using him as a pillow while she read. He loved to take walks and bask in the sun. Bruno made his transition on October 2nd. He had metastatic lung cancer. I am so grateful for the love he brought into my life and the lessons he taught me…one being “don’t judge a book by it’s cover”. I miss him very much but his Spirit lives on. I am so happy he came to live with me, at least I know he had an awesome and happy life for 2 1/2 years.
Thank you Kris for all you do! Buddy is one lucky guy as are you and your hubby.
Many Blessings,
Lisa
What a lucky boy!!!
My aunt found a baby Galah (Australian parrot) in her backyard one morning. It was still featherless and looked like it had just been born and the mum and kicked it out of the nest. My aunt had to make a choice to let nature take its course or save the little baby. She thought the galah was dead as it was motionless and not making any noise, but she didn’t want to give up on it, so she wrapped it in a towel and put it on a frying pan on extremely low heat to warm its temperature up. She went and got the meal for baby native parrots and fed it for a few weeks until it began to get strength and little feathers! My aunt already have quite a few animals and was working full time, so she wanted the parrot to go to someone that had time on their hands to nurture the baby to health. She called my mum and asked if she could take in a little lost soul and my mum happily agreed. The only problem was that we lived in a different state to my aunt, so the little parrot would have to make a big trip to get to our home. My uncle worked in the airforce and was due to fly into Sydney a few weeks later, so we organized for the little galah to take a trip on an Orion airplane. It was so surreal going to the airforce base and picking up a box that had this little creature inside it that was just wanting to be loved. Coco (as our galah was named) immediately became a part of our family. We have always been surrounded by animals in our home, and taking in lost souls that need a home. It’s so important to have your heart open to defenseless creatures that need our help and to not just turn a blind eye and think it’s someone else’s problem. With most of these animals that need a home, it’s because of humans that they are lost and hurting.
We adopted 2 furry little dogs. The first one was from a classmate of my daughter. Their dog ended up pregnant by mistake. The “Mom” was so unhappy about it, she said she wasn’t sure what she was going to do because she didn’t want to take care of puppies. She did it anyway, enough to keep them alive for 6 weeks. On the 6th week, she said if I didn’t come get the puppy that day, (whom we named Mia) she was going to “dispose” of her! I envisioned her being put in a bag and thrown in the creek behind their house. What was her trash became our treasure. We got her and a few hours later the Mom called me saying, oh yeah, she has worms and we never weaned her. Wow. Within hours we couldn’t even get little Mia to drink. Devastated, hoping she didn’t die by morning, I was sitting on the vet’s doorstep saying, “Please Dr. Rick, help me keep Mia alive!” He wormed her, gave her a shot and taught me to feed her through a syringe. She could barely stand up. We carried her everywhere trying to get water down her little throat. But we got the hang of it and now Mia is 8 years old and an important part of our family.
The second was from a flight attendant who was never home and her son moved out. We got a call from a friend and we found the poor dog (all 5 lbs of him–Yorkie we call “Buzzy”) was left outside on a chain for days on end. He was flea infested and had worms. We bathed him, picked the fleas off, and took him to the vet. Buzzy and Mia became instant bosom buddies and love, love, love each other. There is nothing like a rescue dog. We take them everywhere–they love car rides! Don’t know what we’d do without these two! This is true love.
We share our home with 3 rescue cats, Tallulah, Pickles & Kali (strictly indoor cats). We also care for 2 feral cats, Georgie & Mrs. Norris. The ferals were born in our basement window well. We trapped them and had them spayed. My hubs built them a sturdy, warm house that we fill with straw for the cold months. And of course they are well fed! They have a heated water dish as well. We were unable to get close to them early enough for socialization, so they must be outdoors. We love all our girls, indoor and out!
Two years November 23, my wife and I welcomed eight beagles into our beagle sanctuary, aka kitchen. We were working with a rescue group and helped to secure the release of 40 beagles from an animal testing lab in Spain, who we flew out to Los Angeles, the day before Thanksgiving. The night before their arrival, while my wife and I were drinking wine, she had the bright idea of clearing out the kitchen, putting down miles of plastic, and converting the kitchen into a beagle sanctuary. When the 40 arrived and were let out, they were much more feral and aggressive than the beagles we had rescued from American labs. I began to rethink the whole beagle sanctuary. We decided to give it ago and came home after midnight with eight frightened, aggressive, humpy and newly liberated beagles. One of us would sleep in the kitchen with the dogs for four hours at a time. Immediately, we fell in love with Frederick. he would snuggle with us, jump on us and want our attention. All the other dogs slept against the kitchen cabinets, as if they were still in cages. This is how dogs who are caged for life react to fear, they push as far away from humans as possible. Little did we know that Freddie was actually sick. After three days, we noticed Douglass. Douglass was the shyest and most frightened of the eight. We had decided that we’d adopt Frederick and foster Douglass. After the other six were placed in foster and adoption, we both fell in love with Douglass and decided we’d keep both of them. You may have noticed that they are named after the abolitionist slave Frederick Douglass. Like him, they are ambassadors for all dogs and other animals who are held as slaves in laboratories all over the world. 65,000 dogs are used in testing in the US alone. After spending the first five years of their lives in cages, they have adapted pretty well to a life of freedom, minus the PTSD of course.
Two of my cats were strays that were at my vet’s office and they wanted me to take them because they know how I treat my cats. Another came from a rescue group that was doing adoptions at PetSmart – she basically looked at me and said “You’ll do.” 🙂
Last week, I ended up taking 3 more cats from my boss. He brought them into his house last year, but is too allergic to keep them and couldn’t find another home for them.
My story is a story of sweet redemption…In April of 2008, my family of five adopted a little black schnauzer we named “Jack”. My husband and I had different pets growing up, but we had never owned a dog as a FAMILY. We searched and searched the Humane Society web pages for THE ONE…and it seemed we had found a perfect match. Jack was a “neighborhood” dog, going from house to house indulging in his own personal “treat or treat”. He was a very social dog and everyone loved him. Someone loved him a little too much, because in August of that same year, they stole Jack. He was missing without a trace. Heartbroken doesn’t adequately describe the months that followed losing our Jack.
After a while, we began to visit local shelters again. We never had that special feeling inside about another dog, but we were healing. Giving these dogs a bit of respite from their confinement was gratifying. Still, our home seemed as empty as Jack’s food dish.
Then one fateful trip just before Christmas Eve changed the course of our lives forever. We didn’t feel any different walking into the shelter. Sure there were decorations everywhere…but it was usual visit for us. As we made our rounds into the various rooms, we came upon the “Cat Room”. The shelter worker explained that there were a few new recruits for the “Small Dog Room” that hadn’t made their way quite yet. Probably not enough room I thought to myself. Intrigued, I looked over the puppies, and small dogs in this CAT ROOM. Hahaha…they seemed so miserable and out of place.
And then. I spotted her. A little blonde dog with unbelievable brown eyes. For some reason, I felt compelled to open her cage (totally against the rules). The cage was at least four feet off the ground, but nevertheless, the dog leapt into my arms. I caught her like a circus trick. And that was the end. She was ours. The love of our lives, completely unexpected.
“Eva” named for her Adoption Day of Christmas Eve is an old soul. She is wise, has perfect manners, and can hear an apple being cut a half-mile away (she is OBSESSED with apples). Eva isn’t much for exercise…so her body is made in the kitchen…on a diet of her dog food and of course, APPLES!!! She is perfectly polite as I mentioned, leaving the stem and the seeds in a very neat pile after she is done. She is perfectly content eating leftover pulp, and just about any fruit or veggie I offer her.
I am forever grateful for our sweet doggie! Would love to have the book- but Eva will always be my #1 prize! 🙂
Walking dogs at the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society in Albany, NY (Menands) was therapeutic for both myself & the dogs following my aggressive chemo, radiation & surgeries for Stage II breast cancer in 2004. Since I live in an apartment (in Menands near the shelter) I am unable to have a dog. I truly believe the dogs that I walked, fed, cared for &, of course, picked up their poop 🙂 knew that I needed them as much as they needed me. As you may know many feel that dogs are attuned to cancer in people. Surprisingly, the Albany shelter receives an abundant amount of pit bulls (American Staffordshire Terriers) & I never forsaw myself walking this breed since I was hesitant. I am now a pit bull “convert.” Truly, they are gentle when treated with respect & love. If you ever pass through downtown Albany you will see our black & white “Nipper” (an American Staffordshire Terrier) on the roof of one of Albany’s oldest buildings that has been there for centuries – an Albany landmark! This is my personal story of many adoptions of dogs that I had the pleasure to meet over a period of time – Winter blizzards & all – to find their loving “forever families & homes.” There was one dog in particular that captured my heart & I went above & beyond the call of duty to find a home for “Bianca,” a pit bull whose time was running out – I will never forget her & I am always comforted to know that she now has a “forever family & home.” Bianca looked just like “Nipper!” Melinda
I have adopted 2 dogs at different times. My first was a faithful companion for 10 years. When she passed away, I said to myself, “Oh yes, freedom.” Four months later that freedom wasn’t all it is cracked up to be. I started looking again. Well, I found her. Lola was rescued from a breeder who was going out of business and she made a lot of money for them. Lola is now enjoying her retirement and is the love of my life.
I love your story about ‘Buddy’ . . . I love how he responds to your loving voice with his thumping tail . . . what a doll!
I don’t have any ‘Buddy’ tails . . . I do have about 50 kitty rescue tales though . . . only about 16 have made our home their home throughout the past 25 years. Currently we have two felines who were abandoned and ‘adopted’ us as their family. They even allow us to share their bed ; )
Thanks so much for keeping us posted about ‘Buddy’ boy . . . your family is truly blessed . . . xxoo
Thank u for Buddy. Keeps my faith in humanity strong. Beautiful story. Tears are flowing. Love to you.:)
We had to say goodbye to our precious 13 year old German Shepherd rescue earlier this year. I only made it one week without an animal in the house before I adopted another rescue. This little guy was terrified and unsocialized. They even tried to talk me out of adopting him because he snapped at one of the workers. I decided this little guy needed me. In less than 24 hours, he was in my lap licking my face and cuddling. I adopted another rescue from a high kill shelter so he would have a canine companion. This led to working with a rescue organization where I fostered a third pup until he could be adopted by a loving family. Where I live, animals are thrown out like garbage and even puppies are euthanized at high kill shelters. I know I have made a small difference in the world and that, to me, gives my life great meaning.
First off, thank you for Sharing Buddy’s story and encouraging adoption! My story involves a “Buddy” too, that was one of his many nicknames. This may sounfd like a typical love story, but there is a little twist at the end.
Budreaux (official name) showed up one day when I was carrying cut branches from the back yard to the curb. His little 2 month old self kept following back and forth as I told him I had just accepted a promotion with travel and couldn’t have a dog. Unswayed, he convinced me to at least keep him safe until I could find his real parents. I fed him cat-food and refused to name him since he wouldn’t be staying long. I put an ad in the free paper, posted found dog signs and I took his cute, little lab puppy face around to all of my neighbors to see if they recognized him. When a neighbor introduced me to his wavy haired twin, we decided that someone had dumped puppies in my neighborhood. Thank the Universe, no one ever claimed him and he became what I call, The Dog Of My Life. Bud-e taught me so many amazing things. My friends called him the Zen Buddha Dog because of his calming effect on people and animals alike. He could walk up and stop a dog fight at the Dog park with his wagging smile and did so often. When I made the choice to leave an abusive marriage, I found him waiting in my car as if to say, “Finally! Let’s get out of here!” He was my only and best friend when I moved to California to escape further from that relationship. We hiked the Sierra Nevadas and walked the dog-friendly beach at Pismo. We even got kicked out of the Giant Redwood Forest after learning there were no dogs allowed. (this was after we had made the entire tour) He was the best travel companion and went with me to every city I worked in. Bud-e stayed at more hotels than most people, and we walked every walking trail and city park in those towns instead of lingering in a hotel room. Budreaux helped to heal my broken heart and taught me the true power of getting out in nature and being peaceful in silence. We had so much fun! My photos of California look like “Mr. B. goes to Cali”. I could never get him to hold the camera so it’s a collection of scenic views and a yellowish white lab mix with Brittany freckles. This sweet friend soaked up my tears when each of my parents died and washed my face and made me get up and go outside in the sun holding a red leash. I knew my boyfriend was a good guy when he understood that Budreaux would be with us at home and out and about to outdoor festivals and dog friendly restaurants. When I finally admitted to myself that his beautiful story would soon be ending after 14 years, I adopted a gorgeous yellow lab friend for him and named her Bonny. Bonny got to absorb his Budreauxness for six months and thought she had found a Nirvana, where the unfinished home-cooked doggie dinners for Mr B. always went to her. He gave so much to all of us. The story isn’t completely over though. Two days after he died in my arms, I boarded a plane to meet some best friends in Arizona for the Celebrate Your Life! Hay House 3 day event in Scotsdale. I almost didn’t go, I was so grief stricken. Bonny was depressed too and I worried about her. It turned out that it was such a wonderful experience with many some of my favorite authors and speakers. On a lark, I skipped one of my scheduled classes and I went to see the medium, Jon Holland with my friends. He was so real and genuine as talked about how he had always been able to communicate with people who had passed on, but only very recently had he begun to see animals. He couldn’t really talk to them, but it was a new phenomenon and he seemed amused and surprised by it. I listened as the lovely stories of loss and healing swirled about me from so many in the room. Jon Holland suddenly paused and laughed. He said, ” I just have to tell you all this. I keep seeing this yellowish-white lab going back and forth. His tail is wagging, and every time one of you cries while talking to me, he goes to you. My heart skipped a beat! He then said, ” I keep getting the words….Bud-e Buddy?” The audience laughed. My friends and I burst into tears. My friend Natalie who was with me looked at me with recognition in her eyes. This was what she called Budreaux whenever we would meet her at the dog park to play with her dog Kai. The next thing I knew, I had a microphone in my hand and I was telling a crowded room about the Dog of My Life. All weekend long, strangers would come up and hug me and tell me the story of the dogs that saved them, changed them and loved them. It was the most healing cure imaginable for the loss of my puppy friend. Since then, I have adopted another rescue, Clyde, to go with Bonny. They have graciously opened up their home to a lab rescue foster sister who is awaiting the chance to meet her fur-ever family. We save their lives and they save us back, many times over. Give love. Adopt, volunteer, donate.
Today has been 7 years to the day since little Beasley Brown was found on the street covered in fleas and weighing only 4 pounds. He was soaked to the bones with no tags and limping on only three legs. A trip to the vet where I told the vet “I don’t have time for a pet…he responded “You could always take him to the rescue center for little dogs or perhaps (he paused here) he was meant for you”? Well Dr. DeRose knew more than I did that day because just shy of 3 months my brother was killed and that little dog got me through all those sad days by just being their constantly and loving me in the only way a dog knows how…with unconditional love.
Here we are seven years later, and I don’t know how I ever lived without little Beasley Brown…were are truly two peas in a pod.
I’m so glad Buddy found you since he was sent for a reason….Carrie
Our adoption story has a sad beginning and a happy ending. Just over two years ago, we adopted a dog we named Roxanne; unfortunately, we discovered that she was already sick with distemper at the time of adoption, and she died about two weeks later. We were devastated. After a few weeks of mourning, we decided to try again. We visited a shelter in a neighboring city and found a pup that we liked there. We visited the shelter several times, keeping tabs on her in the weeks leading up to her planned release. Lady luck, however, frowned upon us once again. Just days before we were set to adopt this pup, she became ill and the shelter could not release her. We decided to go to the shelter that Saturday anyway, just to take a look at the other pups that would be up for adoption. The shelter staff pulled out about a half-dozen 12-week-old pups and put them in a holding pen. Right off the bat, one of the pups somehow escaped the pen, so I put him in a taller pen by himself while my wife and I started to acquaint ourselves with the other prospective adoptees. We each took a dog out of the pen and began to walk around the enclosure. None of the pups were very good walkers; in fact, it was like having a fish on a leash for some of them. One of the pups was already very aggressive (at 12 weeks old!), growling and bristling whenever another pup approached. My wife and I each took turns with all these little guys for about 90 minutes before I remembered there was one last pup–the escapee I had put aside earlier in a pen by himself. At this point, we hadn’t really established the connection we were looking for with the other dogs, and I wasn’t expecting much out of the last one. Was I ever surprised. As soon as I put him on the leash and started walking, this little fellow was right by my side. When I stopped, he stopped, sat down, and looked up at me expectantly. When I started walking again, so did he. My wife saw this going on from across the yard, and we decided we had seen enough. It was a busy day at the shelter (They were giving out free innoculations.), but this little guy sat in my lap for about 30 minutes without a complaint while we waited for the paperwork to be processed. We’ve had Kiva now for two years, and he continues to surprise and delight us every day.
Three years ago I wanted a dog so bad. I am animal lover and had lived without an animal in my life for six years after my poodle, Fritz passed.
I was cutting pictures of poodles, putting them on my vision board. I even went to visit a breeder. Nothing was working out. My husband didn’t even want a poodle!!!
Then I had a shift when I was taking a drive one day..in my conversation with the Universe I realized what I wanted was unconditional love…lots of it. I didn’t have to have a poodle. That is when it occurred to me that there were doggies that needed lots of love and they weren’t brand new puppies but they were filled with unconditional love if I was willing to love them. It was in that moment that I promised God that I would take care of any doggie he sent my way, and as if God didn’t know I asked for one that wouldn’t give me allergies.
I felt released..and as always the Universe answered!
A couple of weeks later I got a call from a friend asking if I wanted to adopt her dog. He was being neglected, he was malnourished and basically wasn’t getting any attention. I knew in that instance he was my dog. She brought him the next weekend.
It was love at first sight!
I had just quit my job and had all the time in the world to nurse him back to health, to help him with his separation anxiety and to give him unconditional love. I was a stay at home for 10 months before I went back to work. It was a huge spiritual lesson in giving unconditionally.
It’s been three years of beautiful memories with Gee. He is a Shish tzu with lots of personality. He sleeps between my husband and I. He definitely is a furr baby and my BFF.
Sweet little Tootsie was outside barking all day on a very cold day. We took her inside and looked for weeks for her owner. She is the only dog our 21 year old cat wasn’t afraid of. About a year later Tootsie woke me in the middle of the night. My partner was having a severe insulin reaction. Tootsie was a life saver. She is 12or 13 now and we cherish each and every day with her and her adopted sister 6 yr old Sheltie, Sadie.,
Hi Kim, Just found you and just got your diet book. I’m doing research for a sister in-law with H2 3rd stage breast cancer. Had a stroke while getting her chemo port put in. Long story.
Congratulations Buddy you are on your way to much Love and good health. My boyfriend and I rescued
two Morky Brothers last February. They were litter mates and I had visited their mom while looking for a dog to rescue and decided I’d pass as two dogs were more than I needed. Two weeks later they crossed my mind while pulling into a parking space at the grocery store. Not 10 seconds later my phone rang. The gal I’d met had sold them to a man who decided after 3 days to get rid of them and possibly split them up.
They are a handful of fun and fur. Good boys with much love to share. We too are blessed to have found
them, Wishing you all the best! Loui, Gucci, Deborah and Ted
My first dog as an adult was a stray golden lab/retriever that I named Mercedes. Mercedes came to me and soon gave me 13 puppies. Mercedes jumped out a screen window and ended up with a family with kids that loved her more than me. I kept the first born and named him Tiger. He grew to a whopping 110 lb. Cliffordlike loving dog whose life was cut short by a neighbor’s car leaking antifreeze into the puddles in the driveway. I then adopted a small yellow lab named Jazz from a family that no longer wanted him. He was sweet and stayed with us for years until we moved and left him with a family with other dogs where he could stay in the woods where he was happy. The last dog was a dalmation black lab mix that was found in the middle of road in the middle on nowhere in freezing temperatures and snow. My brother almost hit her in his Mazda truck and so she became Mazda. Mazda turned out to be my best friend, loving dog, that gave every other dog I ever had a run for their money in the brains department. She was an excellent bird dog and understood everything I ever said to her. Her velvet fur was ever so soft. I used to take her to the lake and she would play for hours or we would go for long walks in the woods. She would open all her Christmas gifts and loved to play hide and seek. My life was enriched by every dog I ever found or adopted and only my first dog was a purchase when I was only 10. My whole adult life has been enriched by dogs that have crossed my path. I am thankful for them and look forward to the next one as Mazda passed at 13 years old.