After all the Shepherds had gone,
we agreed a Sheltie should be the next one.
Along came a pup – a lovely blue merle,
named him “Buddy” ‘cos he loved everyone.

Quite manic as a pup – he scared us with his antics,
and often made us feel quite frantic.
He won Best of Breed at the Royal Manx,
so proud of him – there were no pranks.

When he was 3 along came a brother –
a sable boy – there was no bother.
He got to 5, the third pup came,
a tri-colour boy, things were never the same.

Pets for Therapy started,
they took only the best,
he easily passed
the assessment test.

When visiting residents in Glen House,
he was so laid back, and quiet as a mouse.
They loved to see him every time,
his tail would wag, it was sublime.

Sadly, this didn’t last very long,
things started to go horribly wrong.
He got chronic arthritis in all his joints –
pills, hydrotherapy, steroids were tried,
to the vets we seemed to be tied.
He put on weight, and lost his beautiful coat,
we knew he wouldn’t live as long as we’d hoped.

After 2 years of struggle, and a lot of pain,
we knew there was nothing else to gain.
We loved him too much to let this go on,
he’d suffered enough, his life was no fun.
He slid peacefully away – free of pain at last,
only memories and photos remain of the past.

He rests in our garden in his special place,
with a plaque and a photo of his lovely face.
A true gentleman right to the end,
“Buddy” certainly was our very best friend.

July 1997 – March 2008

• Judy Brown