First of all, I want you to know that you are my best friend. Yes, I know, man’s best friend, blah blah blah; it is a cliché worthy of an eyeroll or three, but it is a well-worn phrase for a reason. Our friendship is one that so many share with their own dogs, but you are one in a million because you are mine.

Thank you for always being on my team. We have been through so much together, and you have always been there, even when no one else was. Sometimes I had problems to which I had absolutely no solution, but there is no bad day that a wagging tail and doggy breath cannot fix.

Thank you for sharing your positive spirit. The world can be a nasty place, but with your endless enthusiasm, rotating around the tossing of a ball or a quick belly rub, I find hope in even the darkest of times. Your time here is so short, but your sphere of influence is incredibly large. You leave a moment of happiness with every being you come in contact with, other than squirrels and that leaf that seems to just piss you off for some unknown reason. That ability to radiate pure joy is so incredible. Truly, all dogs deserve sainthood because they do more good in a day than any human can do in a lifetime.

I hope you know just how loved you are. I have known since the day we met that you were the one for me. It was puppy love at first sight—pun intended.

Thank you for barking incessantly at that godforsaken leaf in the middle of the night. Thank you for never knowing if you want to be inside or outside. Thank you for eating all my shoes. Thank you for waking me up by stepping on my face. Thank you for giving me kisses and getting slobber all over my face, whether I like it or not.

There is not a single thing I wouldn’t do or deal with for you, even though that includes picking up your poop.

There will come a day when all I will want is another slobbery kiss or a chewed up shoe, but you won’t be here to give it to me. Thank you for giving me all of your time, and thank you for loving me in ways that no human can even begin to fathom.

I love you so much, little nugget. No matter how old you are, or how big you get, you will always be my puppy.

XOXO.

This article is dedicated to the coolest dogs to ever enter the pearly gates of doggy heaven, Gracie Marie and Bob Barker. In the words of Will Rogers, “If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went." Rest easy.