Riley entered my life in 2008. I still remember that day. I found her on Craigslist, paid a $60 “rehoming fee”, and she sat on my lap as I drove home with my new puppy. I was young and broke, living alone, and could barely afford my bills. It was an irresponsible decision to get a dog at that point in life, but I’m so glad that I was able to make it work.
She was a mix of two retrievers: Her mother was a chocolate lab and her father was a golden retriever. Somehow all of their puppies were black.
I had some experience with dogs before her, but I did not know about the amount of affection that retrievers are capable of. As I was getting to know her, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that she loved hugs so much, she even initiated them! Literally the sweetest dog I’ve ever met.
She was very smart. I was able to teach her most of her tricks in like ~10 mins each, while heating up frozen pizzas or whatever cheap garbage I ate back then.
She was the most consistent part of my bumpy path in life. She has been with me through tough breakups, my parents’ deaths, career changes, and many other ups and downs that come with adulthood.
She’s also the oldest retriever I’ve ever met. She would have been 17 years old next week.
We were together until her last breath. With my hand on her chest, I felt her final heartbeat.
And I will remember her until mine.
Riley was such a good girl.
I love reading these stories but I cry every fucking time. My two dogs passed away two years ago (black lab 13) and last year (blue nose pit 12.5). Both the goodest of boys in their own ways. I remeber their last heart beat too and will forever love them.
Glad Riley was with you for so long. Dogs are the fucking best and we don’t deserve them.
I wish dogs could live longer. Humans have domesticated such an amazing animal, but nature’s like “Okay fine, but you only get to keep them for a small portion of your life. Also it’s really gonna hurt you when they leave.”
I’m sorry for your loss. I’m sure they were both fun, happy boys in their own different ways.
100% of posts like this never fail to break my heart. It takes me back to the day I lost my girl. I’m so sorry for your loss. There’s no feeling quite like this. I may not know you, but you aren’t a stranger. They say grief is just love with nowhere to go. What helped me was remembering how lucky I was for all those years.
Thank you. I think about that a lot too. She lived so much longer than I could have expected, and I’m grateful for those extra “bonus years” 🖤
I’m sorry for your loss too.
And I will remember her until mine
It was at this point, that I broke and had a little cry.
Same 🖤
I am so sorry for your loss. I know unfortunately how it is to lose your best furry friend…
I lost my Chessie in April at age 12. We picked her up from the breeder when she was 6 weeks old and I held her as she died.
I had a dream a few nights ago that we were walking in the forest and she had a stick she’d keep bringing back and looking at me with those eyes that say “throw the damn stick, buddy, you know how this works”. Then I got to sit with her and run my fingers through the curls on her neck and woke up crying.
I’m so sorry for you, it’s hard to lose someone that would have laid their life down for you.
Aw what a beautiful dream. I really appreciate those dreams with lost loved ones. It’s the only way to form new memories with them, so they’re worth the tears, IMO.
I’m sorry for your loss. Chessie must have been a great dog.
You write very beautifully. Sounds like she was lucky to have you as her human.
Thank you 🖤 I was lucky to have her.
Sorry man. Almost 17 years is really good though.
Thank you. Yeah I’m so grateful to have had so much time with her.
I’m so sorry for your loss. She sounds like she was the sweetest.
Thinking of Riley tonight.
Thank you 🖤 She really was the sweetest.
Rest in peace, good girl. It sounds like she was lucky to have you.
I was lucky to have her, especially for so many years.
Sorry for your loss. Losing a dear dog is the hardest. I hope you remember all of the good you brought each other. Made me cry.
Thank you 🖤 Yeah I’ve been scrolling through photos since I posted this, and many of them made me smile.
Here’s a random one of her being a goofball.
That’s a long time. I know it’s raw and too real. I’m sorry for your loss.
Thank you 🖤
🫂 You’re welcome, my friend.
Aww. 😢
She had a good life. Sorry for your loss.
Retrievers are god’s gift to this world. They’re just some kind of love, and I am sorry you lost yours tonight. Sounds like she loved you so much, she wanted to stay with you as long as she could. I bet you she was a sweet bug the whole way through. It’s really special you got to spend all the time with her. Got me tearing up over here. I hope you’ve got someone/thing/folks to look out for you. I hope you get a chance to mourn like the dead deserve. I hope you find happiness in the little things you loved the most about her. Allow yourself space to honor your emotions. My gal likes to think they’re just waiting for us, and I can tell you I’ve had moments where I’ve felt like the little buggers are still around.
Thank you. This is rough, but I’m so grateful to have had 17 years with mine. She gave me so much more than I ever could have expected.
Of course, I completely understand. Mourn well, take care of yourself and remember they always live on in our hearts and our stories!
Thank you for sharing, I have had the pleasure to live alongside many dogs in my life and I am always struck by how they blaze through our preconceptions in their elegant proof that yes they are certainly alive and sentient, you don’t need proof as a dog owner to know that or rather to live alongside a dog is to experience this truth for years and years as a deep yet simple friendship.
Look up the archaeological evidence, dogs were with us tens of thousands of years before we even figured out agriculture, they aren’t just pets, they aren’t domesticated work animals like most domesticated animals (not that there is anything worse or less about that), they are truly our species longest and most loyal companion and it isn’t even close (not hate towards cats, I love cats too but their domestication is WAYYYY more recent).
The joy you felt with your friendo, it was and is an expression of that, and in that sense this is an eternal thing.
That makes a lot of sense. We knew each other so deeply. There were many times when I’d tell her to do something that I’d never told her to do before, and she just somehow understood me and did it without hesitation. No training session needed. I still don’t really understand how it was possible.
Of course, she often used this connection to her advantage too. For example, if she wanted a treat, or wanted permission to get on the couch to nap on her favorite cushion. She definitely knew how to be adorable on purpose 🥹
This photo was her trying out a new method of asking for a treat.
It was highly effective.
(Though I had to move that plant somewhere else afterwards. She had never expressed interest in it before then, but peace lilies are toxic for dogs.)
No training session needed. I still don’t really understand how it was possible.
Because long before we even started trying to understand ourselves ernestly, there was already a dog that did by our side :P
Sorry for your loss
