This Thanksgiving We Are Especially Thankful for our 13 Years with Sweet Gretzky

This Thanksgiving we are especially thankful for the 13 years we had with Sweet Gretzky and his wonderful G littermates. Gretzky crossed the Rainbow Bridge earlier this summer. He trained to be a service dog for a person with a disability. Right at the end of his training, Gretzky shut down and didn’t want to work. He came home to us and was our beloved pet.

Gretzky brought so many wonderful people into our lives. His breeder/caretakers (Rachel and Holt) are amazing people who loved and nurtured Gretzky’s mother and his littermates. From birth to eight weeks they and their circle-of-love friends cared for the pups. It takes a village to raise a litter. We thank Rachel and Holt for being part of our family for the past 21 years.

Gretzky also brought a wonderful extended family with him, and we cherish all those members. The fabulous G’s were an amazing litter. Gabrio, Grady, Gia, Gail, Gypsy, Gwenna, Gidget and Gretzky looked so much alike it was hard to tell who was who at times.

This Thanksgiving we are especially thankful for the 13 years of memories we had with Sweet Gretzky.

• The students that Gretzky “trained” on service dog etiquette
• Informational sessions he conducted about service dogs
• Items he picked up off the floor for us
• The times he sorted laundry for us (with direction of course)
• Snuggles with us on the sofa
• The times he looked up at us with his sweet face and said I love you
• The nudges he would give your hand if you forgot to give him something to carry as he wanted to work for you
• All the love he showed his current four-footer family…Milani and Fischer
• When he followed you around the house making sure you were safe
• The times he slid off the doggie dock into the water to retrieve his favorite thing….a tennis ball
• When he and Gypsy dressed up for Halloween or other holidays and had their pictures taken together
• The ScooperDude booths he attended
• The times he and LuLu chased balls together
• The unconditional love and devotion Gretzky gave every day

As Gretzky crossed to the Rainbow Bridge he was looking directly at his Mom, with his Dad petting him, with love in his eyes, telling us that he had a good life, thanking us for not letting him suffer, and that he was thankful for us too.  

As Thanksgiving approaches be thankful for all the two- and four-footers in your family. Remember your two- and four-footer family members that aren’t here this year to celebrate THANKSgiving with you.

We are thankful for all the time we had with Gretzky.