Buddy was found by Kevin di Cicco as a stray dog in the Sierra Nevada in the summer of 1989.
[1] Di Cicco adopted the disheveled Golden Retriever and brought him home to San Diego, California, where he trained the dog in the sports of basketball, baseball, football, soccer, and hockey.
Di Cicco revealed that Buddy tried to bite the ball, but its slipperiness, enhanced by saliva or more efficiently by olive oil, would propel it from his mouth.
[6][7] In 1997, Buddy had his right hind leg amputated due to synovial cell sarcoma, a type of cancer that manifests near the joints, although he was still able to play basketball.
[8] Six months later Buddy died in his sleep due to complications from cancer on February 10, 1998, at his owner's San Diego home.