Just a personal narrative essay I thought I'd share

How We Met

The sky was clear as the sun beat down on my skin on the lovely Friday morning. I had been looking forward to this moment for months now, the moment Budah would get to finally come home with me. My mother and a close friend exited the veterinary office, the five month old, black puppy being carried in the arms of the male friend. I watched as Budah, the puppy, saw me waiting for him in the parking lot, and his excitement was contagious. I became even more jittery. Unable to wait any longer, I started towards them to meet my mother and friend to get my new family member. Budah tried wriggling out of the man's arms to get to me, but all movement ceased as the canine's head lifted up to look above him, and his body became limp.

I remember the first time I laid my eyes on Budah, he stared at me through the chain link fence of his kennel, those sad and scared eyes broke my heart in that moment as I tried imagining what this three month old puppy must have gone through to get to where he was now. I wasn't even supposed to go in that morning, to the animal shelter my mother worked at that I often volunteered my time. However, there I was that morning after my mother insisted I go in to help. Upon our arrival, my mother's boss informed us he had picked up a stray on the streets and had placed the puppy in quarantine for being aggressive, as it had tried biting him.

As soon as those words left his lips, I cared to hear no more for anger had gripped me in that moment. A puppy aggressive? And put in isolation for such? No, working with animals my whole life taught me that dogs, especially puppies, weren't aggressive for no reason. I was sure it just had to have been scared. Of course, I was right. Marching into the quarantine room; which was no more than a small room with two kennels with only a door separating it from the rest of the kennels.

There he was, cowering in the back left corner of the first kennel. He barely lifted his head to look at me before hiding his eyes again, he was so scared. I saw the trembles rack his small frame, for I imagined he feared the worst was to come. Moved by this pure black puppy, I let myself into his kennel and proceeded to sit by the gate. I waited for him to finally look at me, to acknowledge my presence. It was as though he was too afraid, though, as if he thought by looking at me it would make what he assumed was to come that much more real.

I sat in his kennel for an hour until, finally, he looked at me. His dark eyes met mine, and he growled. In that moment, I knew for sure that he was not the least bit mean, but frightened instead and that was the cause for his previous behavior. It was also then I decided this puppy would not be here without knowing what it was like to be cared for and loved. Every weekend for weeks I worked with that puppy, slowly earning his trust. It took a while, and even then he let no other but me get close to him.

One Saturday morning, I hadn't expected to volunteer due to a major test I'd stayed up late every night the week prior to study for, and had actually been looking forward to the chance of being able to sleep in for the first time in a while, but it was not meant to be as my mother woke me bright and early. Arriving at the shelter, I carried out my normal duties I always did in the mornings I was there; cleaning out the kennels, feeding and watering the dogs, and changing out their bedding which was no more than blankets or comforters.

Finished with my duties, I was still feeling tired from lack of sleep and decided I needed a nap. Without another thought, I grabbed a comforter from the shelf above the washer and dryer opposite the wall where the quarantine room was and carried into the room straight into the puppy's kennel, where I laid the comforter down in the front right corner and made myself comfortable on top of it on the floor. Not long after closing my eyes, I felt the warmth and soft fur of the puppy as he curled up next to me along my stomach and chest. It was like that I had fallen asleep. When I awoke again, I found him once again in the corner of the kennel, but that one gesture told me all I needed to know. I was getting through to him.

A month passed since I'd first met the puppy I had now named Budah, from the movie Air Buddies. He reminded me of a black version of the golden retriever puppies and I couldn't exactly name him MudBud or B-Dog, so Budah it was. As for the spelling of it, well, my mother decided to ask me how to spell his name I was still half asleep and couldn't think properly. Nonetheless, the scared pup who had been in quarantine now had a name and was allowed out of his solitary confinement after my mother's boss saw all of the progress I'd made with him.

Now allowed out of his kennel on a leash, he was also out of quarantine and up for adoption. My mother knew he belonged with me, for he would never leave my side when I was there, and freaked out when I was not. The day came when he was allowed to be adopted, and my mother filled out the paperwork. One week later, I waited outside the veterinary clinic for him. A full two months had passed since he'd first been taken to the shelter, and I was more than ready to bring him home with me. He'd gone in the day before to get all of his shots and to be neutered, and today he would finally have a home to go to. With me. Then, as you read at the beginning, he fainted right there in the parking lot. We rushed him back inside and the vet took him into a separate room to be examined. Almost an hour later, and the vet informed us of what had happened. Remember when I had wondered what Budah had gone through to make him so scared? I will never know the full extent, but I was given a good idea when we were told he had been beaten and starved to the point he didn't have enough blood in his body and he would need a transfusion. When he lifted his head, all of the blood drained from his brain, causing him to faint. We were told that, due to this, he would be mentally slow the rest of his life.

It didn't matter, we paid for the transfusion, and three days later Budah was able to come home at last. Despite what they said about his mental disability, he became the best dog I'd ever had. He is six years old now, a little over a hundred pounds, and we found out his breed; black lab and Irish Setter. And to this day, he never leaves my side.