How my disabled dog changed my life forever

Some dogs are sole companions, others are soul companions, and Buddha, our blue Doberman spoke to our soul. She was an amazingly beautiful, strong and dignified canine, bred from champion lines who because of her "blue" coat came to live with Eddie for a bargain price. She always treated us as barely her equal - obviously humans were there to do her bidding and provide her with superior care. She was one of those beings whose intuition and judgment we trusted better than our own - if Buddha didn't like you, she had a good reason. And if she did like you, it felt like an honor.
The story of her disability, an acute onset of rear paralysis, is told on our website, www.eddieswheels.com, and it's not my intention on this blog to tell her story over again. She was the inspiration for Eddie's first canine wheelchair, but she was only the first of many dogs with disabilities with whom we would share our life.
What did I learn from Buddha? I truly believe she taught me about compassion for all beings. She was so appreciative of everything I did for her while she was down - she thanked me for the massages, the foot wrappings, keeping her bedding clean and dry, walking her in her wheels twice a day in the woods, lifting her over obstacles, untangling her wheels from the brush, even climbing into the pond when she forgot she had wheels on and went in too deep.
She taught me that time is a healer and if we could support her in a good quality of life, healing was possible.
She taught me that her body might be broken, but her spirit was intact. She had no self-pity.
Nor was she too proud to accept help. She taught me how to express gratitude with dignity, to ask for and receive help as needed. She never gave up, she always tried, and when she walked again on her own, she was as amazed at the miracle of her healing as we all were.