My heart hurts. Frederick passed peacefully yesterday after almost 15 years of doing nothing but being my best friend, my teacher, my rock. I didn’t want to let him go, ever, and even though I knew the day would come, nothing could prepare me for this. He chose me when he was 10 months old, sitting in that cage in the shelter, staring at me and not barking like all the other dogs. Just staring at me with those eyes. He chose me and I chose him and we went home together and fell in love. I know I lived many years of my life before Fred, and I remember those years, but honestly, I don’t remember the feeling of Fred not being by my side. Now I have that feeling and it’s awful. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Fred really fought the fight. He had cancer two years ago. He had kidney and liver disease for the past 8 months, and recently pancreatitis. His amazing doctors at Modern Animal cured him and cared for him and gave him life and helped him thrive. But on Sunday Fred took a turn for the worse and started suffering much more than he was thriving. And it was made clear to us that letting him go was the nicest thing we could do for him now. A doctor come to our house so Fred could be in his own space with us and not feel stressed. One of the last pictures is Fred in his bed, just beforehand, with his favorite thing all around him — my shoes. His whole life, whenever I left the house, he would go find some of my shoes and bring them to his bed to sleep with until I got home. I snuggled Fred in my neck (his favorite place) and breathed with him through the whole thing. So I hope he was a happy man in his last hours. He spent his entire life making me happy. I will miss him forever 🤍🐾 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Frederick Milton Hodge 2007-2022