So Long, Buddy, And Thanks For Being A Buddy

CONTENT WARNING: Peaceful Animal Death

My brother is autistic and lives in a group home. When we were kids, we had a black lab mix named Buddy. [Brother] decided that he wanted another dog, and he wanted it to be a black lab mix, and he was going to name it Buddy, too. My mom heard there was a rescue with a therapy-certified dog named Jax, so my mom took [Brother] there to look at him.

In the very first kennel, there was a yellow dog. He saw my brother and just started going nuts. He started barking, jumping, and whining. The lady took him out of the kennel, and he started running around the room. He came up to my mom and my brother, waving his front leg in the air.

Rescuer: “He wants to shake.”

My brother was immediately taken with him.

Rescuer: “He’s a lab mix. His name is Butter, but we call him Butty for short.”

My brother thought this was a sign that they were meant to be.

The lady told them he was a last-minute death row rescue from the local shelter, but she swooped in and got him. It was decided that Butter, now called Buddy, wasn’t trained well enough to live in a group home, but he could come and live with us, and my brother could visit him.

He would later go on to star in such classics as this story and this story. He passed two days ago after being with us just shy of ten years at the age of eleven. He was the best dog and will be missed.

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