Molson

April 27, 2004 - January 21, 2014

I don't even have the words that he deserves.

On an August day in 2004, I became a first time mom. My new baby was a 4 month old golden retriever who desperately needed love and room to run. He was everything that I ever wanted in a dog. He was my first baby and the love of my life. At the time, my now husband and I had been dating for also 4 months. He has been around almost our entire relationship. I got the rights to name him on his papers, and named him Mojo Rising, aka Molson.

Molson, like any good Golden, was a puppy through and through. He loved babies (stuffed animals) and would tear them apart in 30 seconds flat. We'd take him for hikes and he'd run and run and run. When he was about 6 months old I signed him up for Puppy Class.

It started out bad. He wouldn't listen and as much as I tried after our first week he was WAY behind his classmates. The teacher pulled me aside and said "maybe he wasn't ready." Being the stubborn person that I am we kept going back and trying. I'd work with him outside of class, and we'd go back the next week. We were always a little behind.

At the end of class we had the option to take a certification test to see if we would be good candidates to be a therapy dog (visit nursing homes) and I signed him up. When we got there my boyfriend (now husband) was asked to sit in a chair. The dogs had to walk past him and ignore him. Molson, LOVED HIM. I knew there was no way that we were going to make it past him without Molson trying to go to him.

There was a variety of obstacles. Boyfriend was at the end of the course and I was sure that it wasn't going to go well. Well, when we got to him, I was suppose to stop, Molson was suppose to stop, and sit while looking at me. AND HE DID IT.

He was the best dog ever. When we decided to move to Seattle, I asked my dad to keep him for me. We were moving to a city, and had no idea where we were going to live and I didn't think it was fair that to take a 90 pound dog who was use to running on 5 acres.

For the past 7 years he has lived a wonderful life with my parents. I have missed him so much, and always looked forward to seeing him when we came home to visit. He really was the best dog ever. Even if he hadn't seen me for months, he'd step right back into my shadow and wouldn't leave my side.

Last summer, while we were home with Bug, Molson got a cough. We took him to the vet and found out that he had lung cancer. Never smoked a day in his life. The vet said he could have a day, a week, a month. By some miracle, he had 5 more months. He passed away peacefully in his sleep laying in his favorite spot in front of the wood burner. I'm glad that I was able to be here and to see him again. I'm sad that he passed away on his own, and I hope that he knows how much he was loved. I don't even remember if I told him I loved him today. He was so loved and will be so missed.

Owning a dog is a countdown to heartbreak.

Molson circ. 2004