10-12 Bruno: Always loved - a photo on Flickriver

            We are all extremely heartbroken.  Earlier this month Bruno passed away.  He was only ill for a very short time, but a very aggressive lymphoma took him from us after only a week of symptoms.  There was absolutely nothing we could do except for loving him and giving him comfort care.  

Every year since 2008 we have done a family Canada day photo with us four humans and the dogs together in a shot.  We are also often a little delayed in shooting it so calling it a "Canada Day photo" is a rough approximation at best.We keptt getting delayed by busyness of schedules and weather. But when we knew Bruno was ill it was time to put on the t shirts and head out for the photo - in the beginning of October.  I don't usually post family photos here, but this summed him up. He was the centre of everything and he knew it.  He thrived in it. And we loved him for it.  We miss him so much that it hurts.

Much of the write-up below is from a post in Eva's project in the 52 weeks group as we posted it there first.

He was such a great dog and a big personality.  We miss him more than can be imagined.  

In his 9 years with us he made us smile every day.  

He entered our life full of energy and lack of self control by diving head first into a McDonalds bag within 10 minutes of being in our car, and when we pulled him out he had his mouth full of french fries.  

In many ways he never grew up.  He was always there, inserting himself into family fun, love, sadness, and chill time.  He loved life wherever we were - at home, at the lake, or traveling to and from the lake.  

He was confident that everyone loved him, to the point that he once climbed in a minivan that wasn't ours while he was on a loose lead and my wife was chatting to someone on the street. When she spotted him he was begging for goldfish crackers from the kids in their car seats.

He loved the water and dock jumping like no one else.  He jumped so well that people would stop their boats to watch the show he was putting on.

Many times he landed on Eva while jumping off the dock.  For some reason she stopped jumping with him. 

Even though he loved water, he hated the canoe.  One the one canoe ride we did with him he shook uncontrollably and then jumped out almost tipping the canoe so he could swim back to shore.  We made it about 100 feet from the dock.

His brains were not smart.  And that was perfect.  He never figured out that when someone walked past the back of the house in the park they did not teleport to our front window.  

He was just tall enough to peek his eyes over the edge of the kitchen table to catch blueberries that we rolled to him at breakfast.

His most heinous crime was once knocking Eva over while she was pooping.  A crime that he found so funny that he ran around the yard with the biggest smile until she tackled him and disciplined him (which he let her do even though she was half of his weight).

When he got excited he lost all semblance of self control.  He once dragged my daughter through deep snow while she held onto his lead because he spotted a dog that he wanter to say hi to about 200 yards away.

He is the one that let Aggie stop being so scared.  Aggie trusted him so much that she would do whatever he did.  Including demanding brushing after he was done and coming in for fake ear wipes whenever we needed to treat him for an ear infection/yeast overgrowth. During her first year as a 52 week dog he was in the room with her for almost every photo.

If you needed a laugh, he was there for you.  If someone needed a hug he was happy to join in.  If someone needed a cry, he would let them cry into his fur in a quiet and strong hug.

Every time he went to the vet he would climb on and off the scale repeatedly trying to get a cookie every time he went on it.  He would also eat Aggie's cookies when she was too scared. He also shoved his face in every cat carrier to see if the cats wanted to say hi.

He loved yelling at squirrels at the lake.  Even if he didn't know where they were.

He once ate half a role of paper towels on a car trip to the lake, then had white poops for the next three days,

His bottom teeth were crooked, his breath was sweet, and he required 30 minutes of hair care every time he went swimming.

He would bring his water toy to us every day at the lake asking to go for a swim.  Even when the lake was frozen solid in the middle of winter.

He loved cuddling but would over heat.  His favorite toys were stuffed dinosaurs, especially the tiny 4 inch long one that I bought by mistake on Amazon.

He wore hats and sunglasses better than anyone else. He never learned how to shake a paw, but he did learn that if he walked between your legs he could get a butt scritchie (deep finger scratch/pet on his hips). He also learned to slap you if you stopped petting before he was done.

He was everyone's friend. He had trouble posing for pictures as he never figured out that stay command - it made no sense why he should be ten feet away when he wanted to be right beside you. 

He made the best COVID Santa posing for photos with our kids in his Santa costume when the mall Santas were closed.  Even though the "large" Santa costume from Amazon was way too small so he wore it like a crop top.

He gave us over 3,390 perfect happy days.  And we will miss him forever.

Eva and Aggie are doing okay, but the house sure does seem quiet without his big hairy happy presence. Our hearts hurt, but he gave us so much of his heart over the years that we will heal and keep his memory with us forever.

Taken on: October 9, 2023

Tags:

dog

family

Golden

Golden retriever

family photo

bruno « less

Sets appears in: • 12 months for bruno 2023 • Dogs

Groups appears in: • 12 Months for Dogs*

Camera: Nikon Z 6_2, f/9.0, 1/320 sec, 66mm, ISO 1000 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon Z 6_2
Lens:	24-70mm f/2.8G
Aperture:	f/9.0
Exposure Time:	0.003 sec (1/320)
Focal Length:	66mm
ISO:	1000
Exposure Bias:	-2/3 EV
Flash:	No Flash
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Center-weighted average
White Balance:	Auto
Gain Control:	Low gain up
Sharpness:	Hard
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	Adobe Photoshop 24.7 (Macintosh)
Show full info

Stats: 2,328 views / 9 comments

Link to this photo view:
Link to this photo large view: