Bubba

Jay and Bubba

Bubba Our first dog was named Bubba. He was a shelter dog, between 8-10 years old, with only a few teeth and arthritis in his rear hips. He was a Chow and Golden (and who knows what else) mix; his coat was simply beautiful. His outward beauty was matched only by his inward beauty. He was found as a stray with hardly any fur and under weight. The shelter did a marvelous job of nursing him back to health. From day one, Bubs fit right into our family. He loved people and was un-excitable, even when passing other dogs on our many walks. Due to his arthritis, we would take numerous short walks rather than a few long ones. Now, what did our dog teach us? First and foremost, he taught all of us about unconditional love, dispite his past experiences. [We observed early on that Bubby had apparently been beaten by his previous owner as he would wince when we quickly folded a newspaper or raised a hand. No one in our family ever raised a hand to Bubby. How a person could hurt such a beautiful animal, I'll never know OR understand.] He was the greeter when you walked in the door; he was the first to see you in the morning when you came down the stairs - tail wagging and a facial expression full of anticipation of being loved and returning that love right back to you. He would want to be near where you were and would often rub against your legs. No matter what kind of day you had, Bubs was always there to love you and brighten your day! He was just a love bug! A very kind, gentle and loving soul with a twinkle in his eyes. The second thing he taught us was never-ending determination. He lived through an un-imaginable time, yet he came through with a winning personality. On two occasions he had some minor surgery and rebounded remarkably. In his last year with us, he was loosing muscle mass in his hind quarters as well as weight. It became difficult for him to get up and he would use every ounce of strength to do so. His arthritis became worse and his medication was becoming less effective, so we modified our routine on which outside door we used to reduce the step-in height and stayed away from curbs, preferring driveways instead. We would assist him in getting up. He never gave up and always gave all he had to give. I think of his tenacity often. When Bubby passed away after a short three years with us, we lost a member of our family, a companion, a friend. There was a hole where this big ball of fluff used to be. After a few months, we returned to the same shelter for our second dog - yep, another Chow and Golden mix. His name is Bear and he is another tail-wagging love bug. And so another adventure begins!