Saying goodbye is the hardest. We adopted Gonzo in 2009 when my kids were 7 and 9 years old. He was 6 months old, and I didn’t want a puppy.
We had gone to the rescue group to look at a different dog who was adopted minutes before we arrived. None of the other dogs at the shelter seemed suitable for a family with small children.
The woman was pretty determined to get one specific dog adopted and opened the door to the puppy room and let him out. Simultaneously, my children and husband squealed: A PUPPY.
Puppy Gonzo
I was doomed.
I also wanted a big dog, and I could tell he was going to be on the smaller side. But I was outnumbered. (The reasons the woman wanted to get him adopted were twofold. His sibling had been adopted the day before, and she explained that it’s almost worse for puppies to languish at the shelter for socialization reasons.)
Anyway, we agreed that if our senior dog, T-bone was ok with him, he could stay. T-bone was fine and Gonzo became our newest family member. Even though we named him Gonzo, he was our Little Man and we called him Little Man more than we called him Gonzo.
Gonzo & T-Bone snuggling
Needless to say, we all fell in love. Despite not wanting a smaller dog and not wanting a puppy, I fell hard.
And T-bone showed Gonzo the ropes and how to be (for the most part) a well-behaved dog.
We had a few issues along the way; he didn’t like people coming through our front door and oopsie, might have bitten a few people. But we figured it out and overall, he was a wonderful dog.
He not only slept on our bed, but he slept under the covers snuggled into all my nooks and crannies. When we were awake, he was often found under a blanket on the sofa with whichever family member was there.
After T-bone passed, we adopted Ninja who was the same age and the two of them ran and ran and ran together. They were two peas in a pod, and we never felt bad going out and leaving them because they had each other.
Gonzo & Ninja snuggling
If not under a blanket with a human, Gonzo was snuggled with Ninja.
And when we would return (even 3 minutes later) he would make a hilarious howling sound that sounded like ROOOOOOO. We called it Rooing.
Best Buddies
After Ninja passed, Gonzo made it clear, at the age of 13, that he was ready to be a solo dog. So, for the past two and a half years, Gonzo has had our full attention. Our relationship changed too. Ninja was my Velcro dog until his passing and then Gonzo became my Velcro dog.
Gonzo was one of the toughest little dogs I knew. In 2020 he was attacked by two big dogs who escaped from their yard, and it was bad. Then in 2022 he got into a fight with a dog we were fostering and that was bad too. More recently, due to heart disease, I kept thinking the end had to be near, but he had no intention of going anywhere. Such a fighter. Until it just got too hard on his little body.
15 years just isn’t long enough. I miss him so much. I can’t believe he isn’t here snuggling with me anymore.
Gonzo- you are forever in my heart.