36 | SUNRAYS FEBRUARY 2015
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My Dog Buddy
By David Clary
Editor’s Note: Love comes in many forms;
not to be underestimated is the special
bond that exists between humans and
their pets. Resident David Clary shares
with us the story of his dog, Buddy.
I
t had been some time since my last
dog had unexpectedly died and, as
I missed having a dog, I decided to
go to the local animal shelter in Tool,
Texas - just to look around a bit.
I told the woman working at the shelter
that I would like to see what kind of se-
lection they had, so she took me back to
the kennel area. As soon as she opened
the door, what appeared to be hundreds
of dogs of all sizes, shapes and colors im-
mediately started jumping up and down
against their fenced enclosures, barking,
“Pick me! Pick me! Pick me!” All of them
were vying for my attention - well, all
of them except for one. There, laying off
to the rear and pretending to be asleep
(but peeking with one eye to see what all
the fuss was about), a single dog hung
back. It wasn’t a puppy, but it wasn’t full-
grown either. My guess was somewhere
around three to four months old. With
thick white hair (neither short nor long)
and buff-colored ears, it observed with-
out ever moving a muscle. Somewhat
overwhelmed with all the dogs, I stepped
back, took a deep breath, and decided to
leave empty-handed.
All week long as I drove back and forth
to work, I kept thinking about that one
dog. The one who kept to himself, not a
care in the world. When Saturday rolled
around again, I decided to go back to
the animal shelter to take another look.
As before, all the dogs went into their
routine, jumping up and down, barking,
“Pick me! Pick me! Pick me!” And, as
before, that one same dog lay quietly,
pretending to sleep but watching care-
fully with one eye open.
I told the employee I wanted to see that
one - the one back there keeping all to
itself. She opened the gate to the kennel
and told me to go ahead to the play yard
out back, that she would meet me there.
Minutes later, she came out with the
pup. As soon as she set that dog down, it
took off, lickety-split, running 90 miles
an hour back and forth, non-stop, all
around that yard. Finally, I hollered out,
“Hey, Buddy! Slow down and come here
so I can see you!” His big brown eyes
sparkled. He had this funny smile on
his face, and his tongue was hanging out
his mouth. On our way home, I told him
that was going to be his name – Buddy.
There was already a nice kennel at home
that I had built next to my storage barn
when I built my house, ready and wait-
ing for Buddy. It had a concrete pad,
enclosed by a chain link fence, adjacent
PHOTO COURTESY OF DAVID CLARY
