As a kid I grew up on an exotic animal farm in Wisconsin. Aside from the usual cats, dogs, horses, and cows running around the farm we had a camel, fainting goats, barbados sheep, llamas, a monkey, buffalo, etc. You name it and it was probably running around our farm at one time!
My very best friend had severe allergies to animals as well as asthma so she couldn’t come over very often. The hair and dander was just too much for her system to handle, so that was always a disappointment when we wanted to hang out, pets just weren’t her thing.
Now, as an adult, I am still living in Wisconsin and instead of monkeys running around I professionally raise Cockapoos! A few years ago I got a call from my best friend and her fiance who now live in New Jersey. They were on my website and fell in love with a puppy and had to have him! I was really surprised because she hadn’t been a big animal lover in the past due to her allergies, but I knew he wouldn’t be a problem for her because the wonderful Cockapoo is non-shedding and hypo-allergenic. So we talked about him a bit, and when he was all ready to go home I booked him a flight and sent him off to his new parents in New Jersey!
On 9/10/11 my friends were finally going to get married, and I was a bridesmaid. She wanted to include Buddy in the wedding so I was nominated to walk him down the aisle! I was really excited about the whole deal because I was going to get to see my friend again and I was also going to be able to see Buddy all grown up. I really wondered if he would remember me, it had been almost two years since he left, and who knows if I made that big of an impression on his short puppy life?
The day before the wedding my husband and I stopped over at my friends house and she happened to be outside on a potty break with Buddy. We parked the car and when I got out he was wanting to see who was there, he started to walk up to me and I kneeled down to say hi and all of a sudden it hit him who I was! He started to squeal with delight, he was so excited, and when I went to touch him he flopped over for a belly rub as if we had been together his whole life. Yep, Buddy did remember his original human mommy!
On the day of the wedding we put Buddies cute little tuxedo on. I got him a shiny gold ribbon for his leash, and when it was time to walk him down the aisle he was a huge hit! I think all eyes were on him instead of me, it was really cute! Now my friends are married, and they and Buddy live a happy life in New Jersey.
As a breeder people often send me updated photos of their puppies, which I really appreciate. I love to see how they have grown and turned out as adults, but I rarely get to see them in person, so it was extra special to be able to see Buddy again, and it made me feel really good that he did remember me!