Buddy’s Legacy

Buddy was the very first mindDog and without him there would have been no others. Of our three dogs, he was always the first one — the first to eat the cats’ food, the first out of bed in the morning in case there was a snack somewhere, the first on the couch to watch the telly, the first to get under the blankets at night, the first off the boat and onto the beach. He loved the bush and the beach — playing with the other dogs, hunting goannas, doing wheelies in the sand.

No assistance dog trainer would ever have chosen him for the job. He was aloof, not particularly obedient unless there was a treat in the offering, would bark at other dogs, and had a tendency to wander off doing his own thing. But he was smart and he trusted me absolutely so if we did something new he was always cool with it because we were together.

Buddy was living proof that minddogs are like no other service dogs. All the criteria for “normal” assistance dogs, all the behavioural tests, the puppy fostering, the intensive training — for mindDogs that’s all irrelevant.

For us and our dogs, it’s the Bond. Beginning and end.

That’s Buddy’s legacy.