I don’t feel much like working today. My constant companion, office mate and friend is gone. On April 4th, my wife and I made the heart-wrenching decision to put down our 12-year-old, Neapolitan Mastiff, Cosmo. She was very sick and at her advanced age we didn’t want to prolong her suffering. Despite her male-sounding name, Cosmo was in fact a female and was named before we rescued her from the Montgomery County, PA SPCA. She was four at the time when we brought her home in 2001.

Cosmo

She had a hard first four years of life, the vet thinks she was bred too much, and lucky for us was surrendered to the SPCA during a not very active time, as she had stayed at the SPCA for several months before we found her.  She was under weight but always willing to eat and she soon flourished in our home. She became a constant in our home, and when I started my business was my office mate day in and day out, taking her spot on the couch in the office to “work” hard at sleeping and nudging me to be petted when I started talking on the phone.

Cosmo hard at work

Today, she’s gone. I will miss my office mate, our other dog, Ally the Bloodhound goes to doggie daycare three times a week, so I’ll have her keeping me company a few times a week, but there’s an energy missing from our home and office now. I’m sure eventually life will intrude again, we’ll get busy, and we’ll continue to remember and miss Cosmo lovingly, and it won’t hurt as much as it does today. Dogs have a fantastic way of making all of us slow down in life and take time to enjoy it. Often it’s just the wag of a tail or the look in their eyes that help us do that. I encourage anyone out there looking to get a dog, to please check your local rescue or SPCA and help a dog out. I know in my heart that Cosmo was eternally grateful for what we did for her and she became a part of our family, the ultimate protector of our home, my wife and the neighborhood as we went on our daily walks, and she was our friend.

Goodbye Cosmo.