Go Buddy!

The World Knows Buddy, aka Air Bud, as the golden retriever "iconic character" popularized in thirteen motion pictures. But I knew him as Buddy, a pinecone-toting, disheveled mess of a stray dog I found in the Sierra Nevada. Buddy's story is much more than the story of a stray who ended up in a movie. It is also the story of a boy—that's me—and his dog. I rescued him from abandonment in the mountains, but Buddy also rescued me, giving my life purpose, direction, and a profound sense of relationship I had been missing. Our bond saved us both and together we forged a path from that dirt trail near the old mine shaft to international sensation on the silver screen, his eventual fall to cancer but not before siring a litter of puppies that would carry on his iconic legacy for generations to come.

A writer and avid sports enthusiast, Kevin di Cicco is best known for finding and training Buddy, the Golden Retriever of Air Bud fame. Kevin also trains Buddy's offspring daily in the sports of baseball, basketball, hockey, football, and soccer.