Buddy
Buddy is a sled dog who was born in May 2015. Deaf since birth, it's not Buddy's ears that ended his mushing career. Buddy was deemed too small to pull a sled so his musher sought a pet home for him. Phil Rhode adopted Buddy and they became BFFs! Then, in February 2018 Phil died after a battle with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (learn more and help find a cure here). Right before he died, Phil asked his daughter, Maija, to teach Buddy to be a flyball dog. Phil said "I want Buddy to be on one of those cool flyball magnets you put on your car!" Maija, who is arguably ADGW's loudest member, wondered how a dog who can't hear could be trained to play flyball. But, with hand signals and high energy (in the form of yelling - which everyone but Buddy benefits from), they learned to work together toward making Phil's last wish come true.
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