Today, September 30th is Moose’s 15.5 birthday.

This guy right here is the reason why I love labrador retrievers. He has all the typical lab personality traits. I’ve had 6 labs (well maybe 5, I’m not sure Molly really has any lab in her) and Moose is the most “labrador” of all of them. Expert the water thing… he isn’t a fan.

We adopted Moose when he was 7 years old. He weighed around 90lbs and had long legs. He had a big barrel chest. I always thought he was weimeraner or other big barrel chested dog and labrador retriever mix. The wisdom panel DNA test said he was 100% lab but I’m not sure.

Here are 5 characteristics that proved to me he was at least part lab:

1. He LOVED people, especially Don and me. He loved everyone that ever came over and if you fed him or walked him, he was your friend for life.

2. He was a Stage 5 Clinger. If you’ve heard the term “velcro dog,” that was Moose. He was particularly clingy with me and that made me love him even more. If I got up and left the room, he followed. If anyone went into the kitchen, he was always right there. More than anything I think he loved sleeping on the dog couch with his head resting in my lap. I loved it.

3. He LOVED food. To the point that his nose got him into trouble a lot. He would eat anything with one exception. I dropped a lemon peel on the floor once and he ate it. I thought for sure he’d spit it out but he didn’t and then he begged for more. (I didn’t give him more.) The only thing he didn’t like was leafy vegetables. If I dropped lettuce or spinach on the floor, he would spit them out. LOL

4. He loved to go for walks. He was always up for a walk and he got a lot of them.

5. His nose worked all the time. Even when his sight and his hearing started to fail, his nose always worked.

You’ve probably noticed that I am writing in the past tense. If you don’t follow me on Instagram then you don’t know that we said goodbye to Moose on September 12th. Here’s the post if you’d like to read it and show him some love.

I had really hoped that he’d make it until his 15.5 birthday. We were going to have a party but it wasn’t meant to be.

Don and I knew this day was coming so we tried to prepare ourselves. For the last month or so, I saw some subtle changes and I knew we were nearing the end. For the most part, I think Don and I are both doing okay and Molly seems fine too. Moose liked her more than she liked him I think.

It’s only been a couple of weeks so I still have those moments when I forget that he’s gone. Those are the worst and they make me sad. But I try to think of all of the happy times and there were a lot of those. He was a happy dog.

He loved to lounge. I joke that he was the BEST dog bed model ever. He got a lot of practice. If I wanted to take his photo, all I had to do was put a dog bed down and he’d lay down and eventually even go to sleep.

That’s how I got the birthday photos below. Don’t all dog birthday parties include a dog bed?? He was a ham and always made me laugh.

The dog bed photos are a series from a commercial photo shoot for Big Barker. They said: “We’d love it if he put his head on the bolster.” Moose said, “I’ve got this!” And he did.

There are times without him here when things are easier. Things like loading the dishwasher. He used to drive me crazy trying to lick the dishes as I’m loading it. Now I miss those moments.

I did a thing back in July that I didn’t realize at the time would bring me so much comfort. I’d been looking for a large piece of artwork to hang in my dining room when I stumbled across Russell Miyaki, an abstract painter.

I thought, why not hang a giant painting of Moose in my dining room? So here it is and I love it. Especially since Moose isn’t here anymore, I love seeing this painting of him every day.

I moved it in order to take a photo of it and Moose together. As it turns out, this series of photos are the last ones I ever took of Moose.

We had Moose cremated with a BARKography tshirt of mine, a tennis ball and some cheerios. Every time I think of Don making the suggestion to include cheerios, I smile. They would make Moose very happy. He loved cheerios.

Everyone who met Moose loved him. Even people on Instagram who have never met him were fans. He made it easy because it was clear that he just wanted to be loved. And he was. And he still is.

Love your own doggos or other pets for Moose today. Do something extra special for them and for yourself in his honor. Moose would like that and it’ll make me feel good too.

Happy 15.5 Birthday Moose. We love you and miss you big guy.

This is a blog circle and our topic today is Why I Love Dogs. Next up is Endless Mountains PA pet photographer, Elaine Tweedy, of I Got the Shot Photography, runs down the top 10 reasons why dogs are important to her. Click the link at the bottom of each post and you’ll make your way around the circle. I think I may need some tissues.