My story is about a German Shepard by the name of Buck. I can tell you many stories about my friend, when he swam in the surf at Cape Cod, when he alerted me to a fire in the house at 3:00 am but the best is when our house was broken into by an intruder.

I lived with 2 other friends and one night someone broke the window at 4:00am in the downstairs bedroom of my friend. This thug got in the room and started to assault my friend who was dead asleep. Buck was in my room next door and got up and started to pace back and forth then jumped up on the bed and woke me up. He weighed 110lbs. When I jumped up I saw him staring at the door so I thought he needed to go out. I opened the door and he ran straight for my friends room and began to scratch at the door and cry. I knocked on the door and heard a muffled cry so I broke the door open and their was this huge guy on top of my friend hitting him. I just told Buck to “GO” and he charged into the room and hit this guy from the back with his weight. Buck then proceeded to teach this thug a lesson about breaking into the wrong home. He shredded the guy pretty badly and that’s the first time I saw a gang member cry for “MOMMA”. We called the Police and even they wouldn’t come in till I got Buck out of the room. The thug by the way was under the bed and would not come out unless the police helped him- how’s that for a laugh.

Anyway, Big Buck died in my arms 6 yrs later from a heart attack. I held him in my arms and talked to him and felt his big heart beat slower and slower until he simply fell asleep. I was a mess for a long time but I always thank God that he gave me this magnificent friend for the time that he did. He’s buried in my yard in a place of honor and I visit him all the time and talk to him like he’s still here. I know that sounds nuts but I don’t care I owe it to him.

Dennis from NY