A Farewell To Buster

This is going to be a little melodramatic, but you'll have to forgive me, my dog died yesterday...

For my 30th birthday a few years ago my wife said we could get a second dog. After many trips to the SPCA and the Wake Cty Animal Shelter, we found a shy, gentle puppy with enourmous feet. They said he was 3 or 4 months old, was a blue tick hound, and would grow to be 80 pounds. Turns out he was some type of Great Dane mix and grew to be 125 pounds. But he had the perfect personality, kind of dopey, great with our kids, never once heard him growl.







We don't know what happened. He seemed fine yesterday morning. He was actually hopping the fence I had set up in my yard to keep him on one side. Then in the afternoon he didn't want to come inside and Bobbi-Jo checked on him a couple hours later and found him in the doghouse not moving. His stomach was a bit distended, and I think he got 'bloat'. It's a condition Danes get where their bowels get twisted and if you don't get them to a vet within 30 minutes, they'll die. (To be honest, we were trying to find a good home for Buster. We had run out of space and needed the room he stayed in downstairs for a play room. My wife had actually been praying that we would be able to find a place for him by Christmas. That tells me two things: 1-I'm not so sure God didn't kill my dog and 2-Don't get on my wife's bad side.)

I read recently that Americans spend 4 billion dollars on either dog food or total pet supplies. It was written in the context of 'how can we care so much for these animals and ignore all the needy people in the world'. I can't disagree... at all. But at the same time, reflecting on Buster's death, I wonder if our care for animals isn't the mis-directed image of God in us. God is a lover and a giver. I think we got our dogs because we wanted something to love, and dogs might be the easiest creatures in the world to love because they're so clueles.... forgiving. They say people who live alone are healthier when if they have a pet. Maybe it just points to that something in us that knows it's right to love and to give. Of all the dogs my family's had in my life, this one was my favorite. I'll miss him.

Well, Buster, here's hoping all dogs really do go to heaven and we'll see you again. Rest in peace, you were a wonderful dog.