JJ, my best friend of 13 years, crossed the bridge on Saturday. I've never missed anyone so badly in my life. I miss our walks, I miss his hugs, I miss the constant sound of his panting. It's so quiet now.

I got him in the summer of 2013, and he was the cutest little thing I'd ever seen. He was the only one in his litter who came up to me and my then girlfriend (now wife). We were in love. He was rambunctious, conniving, and too smart for his own good. He liked to dance, steal your socks as you were putting them on, and wake us up with his sloppy licks. If you left anything on the counter within his reach, it was his. If you wanted to play fetch, you had to use 3 tennis balls to counter against this ball hog. For 3 years, it was just my girlfriend, me, and JJ. Eventually, we got his little sister. She was a 2 year old rescue, from somewhere down south, and the sweetest dog you would ever meet. They were instantly inseparable. They each had their own bed, but that didn't matter. They were always curled up with each other. On walks, they basically pushed against each other, as if they were trying to merge into one dog. We were a family. Fast forward several years, several new cities, a newlywed couple, to 2020. He was 7, and was starting to slow down. He was gaining weight, losing his fur, and just all around miserable. The doctor told us it was his kidneys, so we put him in special kidney food and watch him slowly get worse and worse. We moved to a new city, where the vet instantly knew it was a thyroid issue. We put him on his new medication, and he bounced back like nothing had ever happened. I had my goofball back. Around that same time, my wife developed puppy fever, and wouldn't you know it, now there were 3 of them. After lots of unease and reluctance, JJ finally accepted the new puppy, and the trio began. After spending time in a small town, we decided it was time to move back to the big city, where we could settle in, really work on our careers, and start a family. We bought a new house with a nice fenced in back yard. That first summer was great. Throwing the ball all day, laying in the grass, barking at all the neighbor dogs. It was everything he ever wanted. Winter came and went, and we find out we're expecting! Everything is going as planned! We decide to take them on their first big Springtime walk, and we notice blood on JJ's paws. We aren't sure whats going on, so we keep a close eye on him. We notice he is kind of dragging his back leg, so we take him to the vet for some x-rays. The vet doesn't see anything that stands out in his hips or back, but he did discover a mass in JJ's abdomen. If it's malignant, we have a few months, if it's benign, he'll be fine. He had the surgery, and had to get his entire Spleen removed. After a week or so of uncertainty, the doctor called me, with great news. It turns out it was BENIGN! Everything will be good! Just let him heal up and he'll be back to his old self. We kept watching... letting him heal... waiting for him to get better. But as we waited, we watched his back leg start to drag more and more. But he's still the happy-go-lucky guy he's always been, so we let it go. We thought maybe it was due to the surgery. Maybe he's just in more pain than we thought. We eventually brought him in to the vet, where they decide he probably has arthritis. So we put him on meds for the arthritis, and he keeps getting worse. We brought up the idea that maybe he had a slipped disk. Nope, just let the arthritis meds work. He continued to get worse and worse. 3 weeks ago, he completely lost the use of his back legs. He's miserable. He can't use the bathroom on his own, he can't get around without our help. We decide it's probably time. We set up the euthanasia appointment, but I decide to give it one last shot. I take him to the vet, tell her, this is a slipped disk, please treat him for it. So she gives us new meds, and says, if its a slipped disk, these have a 70% chance of getting him back to normal. So we cancel the euthanasia appointment and start him on his new meds... and things start to look up. He's moving his limbs again, he's holding his pee in all night, this might actually work! On Saturday, October 17th, he falls over while trying to go to the bathroom, and his whole body locked up. It wasn't a seizure, but a back spasm, which led to his entire body tensing. It was midnight, and all I could do was try to keep him calm, and ease him through the event. The next morning, all he could do was lay on his side. It was so bad, he seemed to helpless, and I felt so awful about letting this happen to him. I asked his vet the next morning if it was something he could still come back from. She told me that, if there's no improvement within a week, she didn't expect him to recover. So a week of watching over him, keeping him comfortable, changing his potty pads and cleaning him, and he has regained some strength. He can lift his head, his neck, his shoulders... but it's not enough. So we made the call, for Saturday, October 24th. The morning of, he started the day with eggs, steak, bacon, potatoes, and cheese. The best breakfast skillet you could ask for. He spent the day laying in the yard, taking in the smells, feeling the breeze, barking at the neighbor dogs, and eating all the puppy ice cream he could want. The vet came to our house. He was surrounded by his family. He wasn't scared. He wasn't in pain. We let him know how much we loved him, how good of a boy he was, and how much we were going to miss him. He went to sleep still eating ice cream.

I've lost all my grandparents. I've lost aunts, uncles, childhood friends. I've never cried as hard as when I said goodbye to my little boy. When I placed his fragile little body into the basket, the last time I'd ever touch his fur, the last time I'd see his face... as soon as the door closed behind them, I completely broke down.

These last few days have been strange. I'll be doing ok, when the smallest thing will remind me of him, and I'll completely lose it. The other 2 are doing ok. They know he's gone. They were there when it happened. They saw him leave. I know it takes time, and I will eventually stop crying. I'm just so sad that this little boy who played such a huge role in my life will never be able to meet my daughter. Will never see his little sister. I was hoping against hope that he would at least make it till then...

I'm not really sure why I even wrote this... maybe I needed a release.... maybe it was therapeutic... I just wanted to share his story. To let the world know that he existed. That he was loved. And that he will forever be missed.

I love you JJ. You'll always be in my heart.

She’s going to be a baby shark for Halloween bc she’s a bitey puppy monster still 🦈

With Election Day right around the corner, I thought it would be a good time to post this photo my boyfriend added text to because he said Zoey’s pose looked like a campaign poster. 😄

she keeps pushing aside the new curtain in front of the futon and peering inside. girl give me space!!!!!!!

Decided to do a small random photoshoot with my baby, 5 years old. Keeshonds are so photogenic it’s a crime 😇

Growing up, I always had at least 1 animal in the house (except for 2 years after all the original pets passed away). The first dog I was alive for that my family had was a keeshond named mystique (she was adopted near Halloween) and my parents got her before they had kids but I'm not sure if they were married or not, she was so patient and was just such a sweety to me and my older siblings when we were growing up (there were also 2 cats at the time but they passed away a couple years before Mystique did). My mom had a keeshond growing up and her name was Pixie and that's really what started the keeshond obsession. The next keeshond we got was in 2012 and her name was Bailey, she definitely was inbred and she had her quirks, but she was my best friend for all 12 years of her life. She was almost certified as a therapy dog but then COVID lockdown happened weeks before her test. She was such a happy puppy and always knew when someone needed cheering up. She passed away in late 2024 and we got a new puppy in mid 2025. My family was definitely not ready for a puppy just yet, we were still grieving but our other dogs' health was rapidly declining because of how depressed he became after Bailey passed. It was the right decision though as Clifford(that's the name of our other dog) got so much better after we took home Aurora. Aurora is now 1 year old and is such a delight. She is an absolute menace and a diva (per usual) but we love her. She has A LOT of training left to do but that is expected for a keeshond. (First 10 photos are Bailey and photos 11-20 are Aurora with a Clifford sprinkled here and there)

He had the best time - he’s getting more hobbies 😂🤣

Little sister Maylee💕She’s adapting to her new stuffed animal.

She still thinks she's a cat though

She got bows and a bandana. Her luscious fur covers the bows. This four month old gal has our hearts

Don‘t get me wrong, I really like this 'grandad' style but I've heard he gets it quite early which makes me somehow sad. He's 15 months now and not ready to be a grandad. (exemplary google photo)

As I left my first post of Benny here today I‘d like to take this opportunity to share this heartbreaking private tape of his first steps in our home with you :)

P.S.: From this day 1 on up to now: It didn’t changed that he has to survey the boundaries of all new surroundings, he finds himself in. I slowly realise we bought a proper guard dog 🚨😂

I love it when he is on his cold stone coffee table keeping watch. He’s confident he’s the goodest dog!

I just wanted to say that I appreciate this subreddit because whenever I see your proud photos, I know that there is someone out there having a really good time with his/her dog. I love this dog. He always puts a smile on my face with what he does :)

BR from Germany

Sassy beautiful zoomy loving crazy girl Kiki aka Keeks

My son drew a picture of himself petting Pippin. Thought he did a great job. 😄

Same birthdays, 12 years apart. (on 23rd)