Bryan the Amazing Lion/Wolf

It has been a year already since Bryan passed and I am just now gaining the courage to write about him. Today would have been his 18th birthday! He was our first dog and perhaps the best dog ever! He had such an amazing personality and was friendly with people and all animals! He taught my sister's dog Worf how to play and was essentially the Godfather of the animals in our family and of the neighborhood. 

He had wolf-like qualities and the coloring and mane of a lion. I am so lucky to have known him through all of the stages of his life, from puppy all the way to old old man. He was 17 years old when he said goodbye. It was one of the hardest things to accept since he had been a part of our family for such a long time- over half of my life!

Here is a little history on this amazing pup....

My cousins had finally been able to convince their parents to let them get a dog. They shared all their tactics with us so that we could do the same. It took quite sometime to make it happen. We put sticky notes all over the house and begged and pleaded! Finally the parentals gave in and we made a trip to the DC animal shelter after we heard about a dog that may be perfect for us, named Bryan. We all piled into our van and set out for the shelter. Once we got there, we were in heaven! So many dogs to choose from! We all found our favorites, mine had initially been this adorable puppy that they had found in a trash can, but my mom said his paws were huge and therefore would grow up to be too big of a dog. She was set on having a medium sized dog. Finally we made our way over to look at Bryan, the main guy we had come to see. He was cowering under the bench in his cell, while his cell-mate Max was standing on top of the bench barking like the rest of the dogs. Instantly we knew he was meant for us. Not only was he sweet, but his name was Bryan, coincidentally that had been the name my parents had picked out in case they ever had a son, which they didn't; just four amazing daughters!

He was so scared because the floor was slippery and there was a huge industrial fan making so much noise, but he was absolutely perfect! He was 6 months old when we got him, but was pretty much full grown at the time, and perhaps the most gorgeous dog you have ever seen. We got to take him home a week or so after that once he had his surgery.

Of course at first you have all the issues with bringing a new puppy into the house, you have to potty train them and make sure they don't chew the house up. Bryan learned very quickly and assimilated into our family at light-speed! He immediately had our hearts and had us all wrapped around his little paw. In the end he really was the one who trained us.

 I am so happy Pheebs was able to meet him and help him through the loss of Chloe, they both loved just knowing that the other one was there with them and she definitely felt his loss when he was gone. She wouldn't go into the family room by herself for quite a few months after wards because I am sure she was just too sad.

He was there for us through all of our rough patches and all of our happy times. He was a great listener and offered the best cuddles when you were sad. If you were sent to time-out on the stairs sometimes he would do the time with you, which made it not so bad. He truly was the best first dog anyone could ever ask for and was just as much a member of the family as anyone could be.

Not his best angle 

Those eyes could bring on world peace, he should have run for president 

those ears! can you even handle it?!

what a lounger

so majestic

loved those snaggly teeth in his old age stage

such a happy face, you would never know he was 16 here!

the diaper stage, he loved it when we had special duct tape for him

always so contemplative is his old age, quite the thinker 

pretty sure he is yawning, but he could be stunned by something someone said too 

we always loved it when he would just wake up and do a stretch, pretty much everything he did was adorable

ooops not ready for that shot 

we liked to give him a nice trim in the summer before we would go to the beach so he wouldn't be too hot. Looks just like a pup here!

he definitely loved walks

They were best friends

obviously they were both obsessed with the mims

For any of you out their missing your dear pet, this is for you. I think this poem states exactly what it is like for them after they leave us and are just waiting for us to meet up with them later. Bryan and Chloe I miss you guys so much every single day and hope that you are running around and having fun with all of your friends!