Loving Junior All the Way to the End

ByBritt Pizarro

Hi friends,

Today’s post is going to be a little different. Maybe not that different… but it feels different to write.

If you’ve been here for a while, you know how much our dogs mean to us. You can read more in my post, The Healing Power of Dogs: A Love Letter. To bring you up to speed, we have four:

  • Junior – 14-year-old German Shepherd
  • Logan – 13-year-old Maltese Shih Tzu
  • Lily – 11-year-old Maltese Shih Tzu
  • Champ – 2.5-year-old English Cream Golden Retriever

Last week, we found out that Junior has cancer.

When we came home from my hysteroscopy, we walked into throw-up on the floor and a version of Junior we didn’t recognize. His eyes were glazed over. He was breathing heavily. He wouldn’t move, wouldn’t eat, wouldn’t drink. He just wasn’t himself.

At 14 years old, we wondered if it might be his time.

I laid with him in his bed for a while, just loving on him. I told him it was okay if he needed to go. We pulled his bed next to the couch and slept near him that night so we could watch him and be there in case anything changed.

Around 3 a.m., he got up, drank water, and asked to go outside. By morning he ate breakfast — blueberries, eggs, rice, and sweet potato. It felt like maybe he was recovering.

But over the next several days, the pattern continued: one good stretch, then not good. Up and down. Until the morning I had to hand-feed him.

That’s when I called the vet.

Junior already has significant arthritis in his back hips, so mobility has been getting harder for him. We explained everything to the vet, and she gave us options: X-rays, bloodwork, or simply pain management.

We chose X-rays and bloodwork because we wanted clarity.

The X-ray showed a very large mass on his spleen. Cancer.

There was no need for further testing. We were sent home with pain medication and instructions to keep him comfortable. Let him eat what he wants. Love him well. The mass could rupture at any time, or it could continue to grow slowly. We simply don’t know how much time we have.

Ian has had Junior since he was a puppy. And he has loved him so well. I mean, how many German Shepherds make it to 14? Not many.

When I met Ian in 2020, he had Kona (our Rot/Pit mix who we had to say goodbye to in 2021) and Junior. I fell in love with both of them immediately. But Junior and I had something special from the start. I don’t know how to explain it… we just did.

We would play fetch for as long as we physically could, and still Junior would be ready for more. Somewhere along the way, we started joking that Junior became “my dog,” and Logan and Lily became Ian’s.

After Kona passed, Junior became even more of a shadow. My shadow. He would follow me everywhere — the kitchen, the office, the bathroom. Everywhere. In the last few months, that shadowing has slowed. Something I knew was happening, but I don’t think I fully processed it until now.

I wish dogs stayed with us far longer than they do. Fourteen years somehow feels like both a lifetime and not nearly enough.

I am so incredibly grateful I’ve had the privilege of being Junior’s mom for the last six of those years.

So for whatever time we have left with our big boy, we’re going to feed him the treats. Give him the cuddles. Let him rest where he wants. Move at his pace.

If his health starts to decline quickly, we plan to choose a date and let him go out in style — ribeye steak, In-N-Out burger, fries, and a milkshake. A feast fit for a king before he crosses the rainbow bridge.

And if we’re lucky, maybe he’ll pass peacefully in his sleep one night.

All I know is this: when my time comes and my health is failing, I hope the people who love me would choose comfort over prolonging pain because they’re too afraid to say goodbye. And that’s exactly what we will do for Junior.

We will love him well… all the way to the end.

Loving Junior All the Way to the End
Loving Junior All the Way to the End
Loving Junior All the Way to the End
Loving Junior All the Way to the End
Loving Junior All the Way to the End
Loving Junior All the Way to the End
Loving Junior All the Way to the End
Loving Junior All the Way to the End
Loving Junior All the Way to the End
Loving Junior All the Way to the End
Loving Junior All the Way to the End
Loving Junior All the Way to the End
Loving Junior All the Way to the End
Loving Junior All the Way to the End
Loving Junior All the Way to the End
Loving Junior All the Way to the End
Loving Junior All the Way to the End
Loving Junior All the Way to the End
Loving Junior All the Way to the End
Loving Junior All the Way to the End
Loving Junior All the Way to the End
Loving Junior All the Way to the End
Loving Junior All the Way to the End
Loving Junior All the Way to the End
Loving Junior All the Way to the End
Loving Junior All the Way to the End
Loving Junior All the Way to the End
Loving Junior All the Way to the End
Loving Junior All the Way to the End
Loving Junior All the Way to the End
Loving Junior All the Way to the End
Loving Junior All the Way to the End
Loving Junior All the Way to the End
Loving Junior All the Way to the End
Loving Junior All the Way to the End
Loving Junior All the Way to the End
Loving Junior All the Way to the End
Loving Junior All the Way to the End
Loving Junior All the Way to the End
Loving Junior All the Way to the End

If you’ve ever had to say goodbye to a pet, you know this ache. Loving them is one of life’s greatest gifts… and one of its hardest goodbyes. But how privileged are we to be able to experience that kind of love at all?

With Love,
Britt

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