I’ll tell you a tale of a time and a place
a long time ago in a world far away,
When people no longer ruled over the earth,
and a council of dogs kept the peace day by day.

They remembered the day when mankind used to fight
and they swore it would never happen again,
So the council was made up from dogs of all nations,
the chairman elect was a massive Great Dane.

And the Secretary came from the USSR,
a Borzoi who stood so tall and so proud,
But the office of Treasurer has never been filled,
as nothing like money was ever allowed.

The language they spoke every dog understood,
they all lived together, no matter what breed,
And the odd little tiff was very soon quelled by a great British Bulldog,
they followed his lead.

From Mexico there was the little Chihuahua,
from China the Chow Chow, the Poodle from France.
The Norwegian Buhund, the elegant Afghan,
each nation all equal, each dog the same chance.

It never did matter just where the dog came,
whatever the colour, whatever the size,
No hatred and also no discrimination,
always truth, no such thing as lies.

But just then I woke from a very deep sleep,
realised it had all been a dream,
I wondered if things could ever be as perfect
as how I remember the way it had been.

Then I thought of the way that all mankind was living,
the mistrust and fear that each nation did feel,
And I hoped that the lesson the strange dream has taught me,
Would one day show man these ideals could be real.

• Author unknown

I will lend to you for a while,
a pup, God said,
For you to love him while he lives
and mourn for him when he’s dead.
Maybe for twelve or fourteen years,
or maybe two or three
But will you, ’till I call him back,
take care of him for me.

He’ll bring his charms to gladden you
and (should his stay be brief)
you’ll always have his memories
as solace for your grief.
I cannot promise he will stay,
since all from earth return
But there are lessons taught below
I want this pup to learn.

I’ve looked the whole world over
in search of teachers true
And from the folk that crowd’s life’s land
I have chosen you.
Now will you give him all your love
Nor think the labor vain,
Nor hate me when I come to take my Pup back again.

I fancied that I heard them say
“Dear Lord Thy Will be Done,”
For all the joys this Pup will bring,
the risk of grief we’ll run.
We’ll shelter him with tenderness
we’ll love him while we may
And for the happiness we’ve known forever grateful stay
But should you call him back
much sooner than we’ve planned,
We’ll brave the bitter grief that comes,
and try to understand.
If, by our love, we’ve managed,
your wishes to achieve
In memory of him we loved,
to help us while we grieve,
When our faithful bundle departs this world of strife,
We’ll have yet another Pup and love him all his life.

• Author Unknown

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