John Delach

John Delach

January 2026

Oh my, my; it is Wednesday, January 7^th and here we go again, on our way to meet our new dog, number eleven in our personal pack of very best friends.

It all started with Woofie, a spaniel mix who we picked out of a liter at Al Mazer’s Puppy Land in Flushing that cost us $19.95. Woofie joined us less than a month after we married in 1967. More than ten years later, we lost her and next came our Golden Retrievers starting with Harry followed by Fred, Bubba, Jumbo and Maggie. We did rescue Buster before we added our last Golden, Max. Tessie, a retired Yellow Lab seeing eye dog joined us when she was eight and became Max’s partner. Next, Molly, a Lab mix who was eight when she came to live with us and who we lost earlier, this January.

Our new girl is a rescue whose name is Princess. She is six-years old, perfect for two octogenarian dog lovers who don’t need a puppy for obvious reasons. We picked her up at Hound’s Town, a kennel in Massapequa, about 45 minutes from our home.

Here is how the rescue organization, New York Safe Haven Animal Rescue described her rescue in their bulletin:

“Princess ended up in the town shelter in the fall of 2025 after being found on the streets. She waited on a month-long ‘stray-hold’ before being released to our organization. She went to boarding since no one wanted to foster her. That’s where she’s been up until Wednesday when she was adopted!”

There were three young women working in Hound’s Town when we arrived and they all showed how much they carried for our new girl. They helped to put her in the second row of our Palisade and gave us her bed. Their affection for her was sweet and I’m sure tears flowed after we left.

I drove and Mary Ann sat with her, but Princess remained completely upset for the ride back to our place. She shook, hyper-ventilated and carried on just short of throwing up until we arrived home.

To calm her, Mary Ann let her roam freely in our back yard that she soon became her safe space.

Our game plan was to have her sleep in the crate we used when Max and Molly were both new to us. I re-assembled it and Mary Ann and I set it up in our little used dining room. Princess/Buddie wanted no part of it so we decided to set up her bed in our bedroom and see how she did. I had a feeling Princess-Buddie knew what we were doing and she didn’t want to cause problems her first night. She could not have been a better dog that night. She stayed in her dog bed the entire time and patiently waited for Mary Ann to take her outside the next morning to relieve herself.

So much for the crate. I disassembled it and returned it to our garage.

The next few days became a learning experience for the three of us. Mary Ann was very pleased with their walks and Buddie began to start showing us her habits. One is her need to be a window cop who stands in front of the bow window in our living room so that she can let loose and bark loudly at passing neighbors, delivery men and women, utility workers, garbage men and especially people walking their dogs letting them know that they’re invading her space.

Buddie also found an indoor safe space, my bed. So far, it has become her day bed, but she does return it to me at night and goes to her own dog bed, so far. Correction, since I wrote that, she has tried to join me on my bed during the night twice. Both times, we directed her back to her bed where she returned.

We have now completed three weeks together. She is a great dog and our love for her is absolute. Life together will be good and, hopefully, long, but we are totally aware that we have a long way to go to complete our compatibility.

Mary Ann has already made excellent progress with Buddie on applying her needed discipline on their walks and we have just begun training her to want to ride in our cars. Granted, we have a long way to go. Mary Ann found a special treat that Buddie loves, hot dogs cut into small slices. Mary Ann started Buddie’s car training by bringing her outside on a leash and harness. She then opened the door to the back seat and sat down. Buddie remained in the driveway.

Mary Ann offered her a treat and Buddie lifted her front paws into the Palisade. After a couple of tries, Buddie jumped into the back seat and after a couple of reptations, Mary Ann started the engine. Buddie remained calm and on January 21, I got into the driver’s seat, started our vehicle before she freely entered the back seat. After a couple of minutes, I put the vehicle into gear and we road around the block as Buddie remained calm. Three days later, we took her for a twenty-minute drive around town. She did shake a bit, but there wasn’t any hyper-ventilating. We are definitely making progress as we continue to get to know each other.   

And we know that there are two things for certain, Buddie has become our family dog and our house is her forever home.