Buzz

We love our dog, Buzz who has been part of our family almost as long as Erin. When we PCS'd to Guam, we had to give away our cat because of the high cost ($1400) of quarantine. We were all sad to say goodbye to Kramer. We tried to get the kids a fish in Guam, but a fish really isn't the same. So after a month or so, we visited the local animal shelter where we found Buzz. We were on our way to the mall and I asked Mario if we could just stop and "look" at the dogs. He knew better. But he let us stop anyway and after a couple hours of begging, he let us adopt Buzz (named after Buzz Lightyear). Buzz has been the best, but expensive dog. With moving all over, we have had to quarantine him in Hawaii (we weren't about to get rid of another pet due to quarantines) and we have had to pay for a couple overseas flights for him. He became a big part of our family.

I remember Erin falling asleep next to him when she was one. I remember taking Buzz out with us trick or treating and him being so excited that we almost had to take him home. Even now with him being almost 10 years old, he gets so excited about a walk. People often see how "puppy-like" he is when we are out walking and they think he is a puppy. We have to spell "walk" in our house or you will get him so excited he won't leave you alone until you take him. I remember the twins sitting in their little chairs on the floor eating their food and throwing Buzz half of it. We miss Buzz so much when we are on vacation and he is not with us to clean up any mess left on the floor from the kids eating. I remember lots of 3-5 mile runs with Buzz in Guam, Hawaii, and IL. Once when we were doing a 4 mile run, I felt so good when I got to the turn to go home, I decided to do it again. Buzz wasn't so happy about it, but he made it. I remember living in Guam and being so scared after the terrorist attacks because Mario was gone at night. But with Buzz, I knew everything was fine. As long as he wasn't barking, no one was inside or outside our home. He has always brought me a lot of peace when Mario is away.

Whenever we go on a trip, Buzz gets really sad. Whenever we pull the suitcases down from the closets, he will start whining. It is amazing because he knows when we get them out, even when we have the bedroom door closed. It breaks my heart. Mario likes to tease Buzz and say "Suitcases, we are getting our suitcases Buzz."

We are going to San Diego next week, so I got out the suitcase and started packing the twins clothes. Buzz was all the way downstairs and so there was no way he could see the suitcase, but he knew I was packing. When I came out of the twins room, he was standing on the staircase whining. He hardly ever goes on the stairs except when Zachary brings him up. I am trying to figure out how he knows about the suitcases. I didn't even unzip it today because it was already open.

We love Buzz and we don't know how much longer he will be part of the family. He has one bad knee and the vet said he will most likely injure the other side soon (most dogs do within 2-3 years of first injury.) I asked her if we would have to put him down once he isn't able to get up on his own anymore and she said, "oh, no." She said there are lots of medications she can give him that are similar to our Motrin. He will have to take pills everyday but he will not have any pain, so as long as he's happy and doing well, we can keep him. She estimated another 4 or 5 years at least. So that was really good news. We'll keep our fingers crossed.

We love you Buzz!