Gunner From Gunn (2013-2023)

Gunner was my miscarriage dog. After years of fertility struggles, and I mean years… and more years, we were finally pregnant until we weren’t… It’s the type of loss that is so deep and so sad and after so many years of hope, and heartbreak, we were at our breaking point. So, we did what rational people do in an emotional crisis, we got a second dog. Not just any dog but one that would eventually be 130 lbs, stubborn, emotionally fragile and a walking stomach – and not just for food!!

Gunner made me cry a lot throughout his 10 years – for a multitude of reasons but when he died a few weeks ago, it was crushing:(

I feel compelled to tell his story – to give you a little glimpse into his life. He was ridiculous in the best way possible and there was never a dull moment (Believe me, I would have appreciated one or two;)

Gunner was, if fact from Gunn, Alberta!! Out of all his litter mates, he gave the least shits about us – In fact he strolled away in the other direction and in turn got himself tangled in the chain of a swing set. We appreciated his aloofness and because he wasn’t frantic for attention, we thought it could be a good quality. Fast forward weeks, months and even years later – his aloofness never proved to be an asset!! Shocker.

Nick had started Versys, and he was out of town a lot, you know, in convenient places like Philadelphia and Chicago. So, if an emergency ever arose, like let’s say in the middle of the night for example…. I’d be on my own.

The FIRST time that Gunner ended up in the Emergency Vet was 2 weeks after we brought him home. Imagine coming around the corner and seeing a little puppy butt and a waggly tail sticking out of a giant food bag. He totally fell in and thought he could eat his way out!! 2am hit and he woke me up and he was clearly in distress – he wouldn’t stop drinking and kept rolling around…. pretty much what I look and act like after I overeat!!! A quick google search prompted the middle of the night trip to the Vet. They told me that if I hadn’t brought him in, he wouldn’t have made it through the night. They took an X- Ray and on the screen all you could see was a tiny stomach chocked full of kibble and twigs!!! He ended up staying for 2 nights. I brought him home and the first thing he did was fling himself at the food, almost like he hadn’t learned his lesson at all….;)

As Gunner grew and his tail became a handy tool that cleared the coffeetable in an instant, it was also clear that we would never be able to leave anything on our kitchen counters…ever…. again!! Oh, is that a pound of butter – Perfect! Gunner enjoyed both the butter and the wrapper. Full loaves of bread? Amazing, bag and all – of course.

He also had an affinity for tea towels and socks. It was always shocking to see the carnage because what goes in, must come out!! Tea Towels were the most impressive because they would exit looking like you would think…a shit filled coiled up towel that somehow turned miraculously clean by the end. Nick also enjoyed finding towels, that had already exited, with the lawn mower…. yep, poofetti allll over the yard!! Such a treat!

Great Pyrenees are typically used on farms as guard dogs – they are great at protecting livestock against coyotes. Our house used to back onto a golf course and we had a lot of coyotes and golfers, and Gunner took personal offence to both!!

I can’t tell you how many times Gunner escaped out of our back yard. His recall was non-existent which was helpful…ugh BUT I eventually learned, after so many hours of chasing and calling and begging and yelling, that if I just fell to the ground and cried, he would come back!! His timing was always great too – ‘OMG, mom’s alone with twin 6-month-old babies. I should do a better job of protecting them and expand my perimeter. She’ll appreciate it so much’, I’m sure the golfers loved it too…. coming around a corner to find a giant dog rolling in the sand trap and then eyeing them up.

We took Gunner to some super high level dog training. The teacher was used to training Police Dogs and was a no-nonsense type of person. Gunner did pretty well until he wasn’t into it anymore. This is when the no nonsense approach of the teacher was clear. I may or may not have cried in one of the classes and she insisted I was too emotional to participate and took Gunner over herself – She was going to show me that it was a ‘me’ problem and that Gunner would surely listen to her….to this day, I’m in his debt for taking it upon himself to prove her wrong!! He straight up refused to listen. The spotlight was on them, and he wasn’t going to bend to her will and that sums up Gunner to a T. We miraculously graduated that class with a strong suggestion that maybe we shouldn’t come back;).

Gunner was fickle – It was a toss-up whether he’d like you or not…which made him unpredictable. He was absolutely the sweetest dog when he chose to be BUT
could also be downright predatory if given the chance. We have a cabin in the mountains, and this is where he was born to be. His protective instincts to keep us safe were always engaged even if he mostly used it against squirrels…turns out squirrels can be dicks and they LOVED setting him off!! One morning, the kids were outside, and I just happened to see a coyote run past and Gunner went absolutely mad and chased him down. I thought to myself that this was it, we wouldn’t see him again, but he ran back circled the kids and then went back again…. he repeated this several times until he was sure of their safety. It was pretty cool to see him in action.

****Graphic Content**** Another time at the cabin, Nick was falling a dead
tree that happened to have a squirrel living in it. As it was falling the squirrel flew out of tree and headed straight for Nick’s face, missing it by centimeters…the squirrel hit the ground, stunned, and Gunner decided that this was his opportunity for retribution. He grabbed that cutie squirrel so fast, and I may have started screaming at him to drop it…. which he did, for a second. Then he interpreted my command of ‘leave it’ to ‘bring it here and wave it around at me’. Nick had to chase him down and wrestle it out of his mouth. It was a sad moment but the look on Gunner’s face was that of success!!!

Have you ever heard of Xylitol? It’s a sweetener that is used in a lot of gum…. the brand ‘Pur’ uses it in almost all their products. I was at Winners and bought a big bag of this gum not knowing that Xylitol is one of the DEADLIEST foods that a dog can ingest. I had a piece and realized I didn’t like it and it found a place in my purse and I slowly forgot about it. The kids were little at the time, so I was always carrying a diaper bag and my purse and on this particular day, I forgot my purse at home. One innocent mistake on my part coupled with Gunner’s unending search for something to eat almost killed him!!

We arrived home to find Gunner having a seizure on the floor, he was foaming
at the mouth and had lost control of his bladder. It was such a scary site, honestly,
we’ll never forget it. Nick managed to deadlift Gunner and put him in the car, and we took him to the emergency vet where they put him in an induced coma. A million questions later, we still had no idea what had caused it…. I knew he got into my purse, but the gum wasn’t registering because, in true Gunner form, he ate the bag too!! I went home and combed through everything and found a tiny corner of the bag on the floor. Bingo! The vets basically told us that the odds were against him and that his survival rate was less than slim.

He awoke from the coma the next day and when the vets called, they said they were fairly sure he was blind and that he was showing signs of brain damage. We rushed to see him and when we arrived, we were able to confirm that his mental state was normal and not brain damage at all;). He completely calmed when he saw us, and his vision returned too!! He was released 2 days later with some serious drugs for his kidneys and miraculously, he seemed normal. It’s hard to know how much xylitol he absorbed but the size of bag he ate contained 50X the lethal level for a dog his size. How he survived was a testament to his stubborn will.

We learned a valuable lesson about Xylitol and if I happen to see anyone buying products with Xylitol in it, I am that person that asks if they have pets and pass on the warning. Feel free to spread the word – We were so thankful that he survived but the price, besides the actual money – which I won’t repeat because I’ve suppressed that memory, was trauma to Gunner, SO many tears, and so much guilt!! Good thing we have a great therapist.

Gunner was a great traveller, which is apparently a prerequisite in this family;). Missing out on the last 2 winters had helped both dogs. When you have seniors – ice and slipping can take them out in an instant. He was totally ready to come back to Canada as the Texas heat began to settle in. We would make sure they were groomed well and get extra brushing to deal with all the hair.

Gunner hated getting wet, he would do the most ridiculous things to avoid water but when you’re getting groomed it’s impossible to find the work around. While we were in Texas, I had dropped the boys off at the groomer’s and got a call a few hours later. Insert a cute Spanish accent -’ Hi there, I think Gunner’s done for the day – He’s been a really good boy BUT he’s jumped off the table and keeps dragging it around the room. Can you bring him back tomorrow?’ I show up to get him and it’s like he has a line drawn down the middle of him. She was only able to get half his haircut done, quite literally only the left side. Haha. I did bring him back the next day and he walked right in – It’s like he knew he looked ridiculous!!! To be fair, In Texas, Gunner was a celebrity of sorts…. he was always the biggest dog by far. Always getting the most attention with 2 basic questions, what kind of dog is he? And is he nice? Followed by comments about how hairy and big he was. I left it up to Gunner as to which answers we would give;)

Gunner had been slowing down the last year. On walks, he would take it upon himself to just lay down, like anywhere…. In the middle of a busy intersection for instance which was cute until it wasn’t. 130lbs is a lot of dog and with Gunner’s iron stubbornness you could find yourself in a situation that could be stressful, and your ‘quick walk’ was now a ‘long, hot sweaty walk’.

We settled back in Canada and that’s when we noticed the lump on his back leg. Gunner has a long and varied history with the vet and even though his Dr. is the best and treats him so well, there’s nothing that scares Gunner more. Typically, he walks in easily enough but the last few visits he puts the brakes on in the waiting room and refuses to go any further.

I was able to wrangle him into a room and after some testing and waiting, you know – the longer than usual – something’s bad, wait! Osteosarcoma is what he was diagnosed with. Basically, the most painful bone Cancer you can land. He was given a few months to live, at best, OR we could amputate the leg (as the ONLY option) to buy him 6 months. Easy decision – We couldn’t put him through all of that just for us.

How boring would our world have been without Gunner? So many tears through the years, good, bad and sad but we don’t regret any of them. He was loyal and sweet and loved us right to the end! We are all heartbroken but also thankful for the 10 years he gave us. There will never be another dog like Gunner, and if you met him, you probably knew that already;)