Dear ABR,

I wanted to let you know that this past Monday we helped Moose to the Rainbow Bridge. Tom and I adopted Moose (who was known to ABR as Buff or Goose) and Daisy (who was known as Hello Kitty) in August 2011. Moose and Daisy loved each other so much. Moose had had a hard life before getting to ABR, and he had some funny habits left over from his life on the streets (including knocking over the garbage can and rifling through it once we went to bed) but he grew out of them – mostly, anyway – and was a great dog. He loved us and we loved him. He was patient and kind and gentle with our children from birth. He believed deep in his soul that he was a lap dog. He loved sleeping almost as much as he loved treats, and BOY did he love treats. He had the longest tongue of any dog I had ever seen – a pink half-circle was always sticking out of his mouth while he slept. He liked being where his people were, including on the furniture, and on top of you, but mostly he was happy to be snoozing in the same room as his family and his girl Daisy. He and Daisy were like peas and carrots. They never fought and were never as at ease as when they were in one another’s company.

As he aged he developed arthritis, then a tumor on his leg (that was inoperable because of the arthritis in his other leg), then dilated cardiomyopathy. Over the last couple of months, he had been losing weight (about 10 lbs, which was a lot for a 65-lb dog) and having a really hard time keeping his food down, despite the famotidine our vet recommended. Monday morning he came downstairs and laid on the floor and just couldn’t get up. His gums were almost white, and his paws were cold to the touch. We took him to the emergency vet, who helped us decide it was time. It was an easy decision, but a hard one nonetheless. I put my forehead on the soft hair on his neck while the vet gently let him go.

Thank you for bringing him into our life. We will miss him. Daisy has been sad and clearly misses her friend, so we’ve been trying to give her some special attention. (For what it’s worth, she is healthy as a horse.) Anyway, we wanted you to know that he passed away and that he was very much loved.

Tom and Eleanor Ruffner (and Jack, Eva, and Daisy)