One week ago today, March 31, 2026, we had to say goodbye to Spooner and let him cross over the rainbow bridge. He was 14-1/2 years old so we knew the time we had left with him was not long, but his passing was sudden. He had become lethargic and was not eating much. I (Tim) took him into the vet on Tuesday afternoon to see what was up. The vet did a quick exam and noticed his gums were very pale. She did blood work and all his blood counts were extremely low. She then brought in the ultrasound machine and did an ultrasound of his abdomen and discovered a large bleeding tumor on his spleen.
I (Tim) got Spooner on Thanksgiving Day 2011. A friend’s niece and her roommate had found him abandoned as a tiny puppy. The friend wanted to keep him, but they could not have pets in their college apartment, so she took him home to her parents. Apparently this was not her first attempt at doing this and mom and dad said, NO! My friend Susan sent me a picture of him and I said I would take him. I had lost my nearly 14-year-old German Shepherd, Cheeseburger, 4 months earlier. The issue was that I was visiting Susan in California for Thanksgiving, but I lived in Florida. Completely unprepared for travelling with a puppy, I took a redeye home from Sacramento to Orlando the Friday after Thanksgiving.
When I arrived in Orlando, a nice man came out from the door next to baggage claim holding Spooner’s crate at arms’ length saying, “I think he pooped.” He sure did. A long shuttle bus ride to remote parking and I was faced with how to get this little shit (literally) home. I pulled out a dirty shirt, wrapped him up except for his nose, and held him in my lap for the 45 minute drive home. His first experience upon arriving home was a bath and he has never liked baths since.
Spooner led an adventurous life, traveling more than most people do. At less than a year old he got a ride home in the back of a Lake Alfred Police squad car after having run off on one of his adventures. At a year old he joined me (Tim) for a cross-country drive as I moved back to California from Florida. He would take many more road trips in California.
In early 2014, he gave Jay a thorough sniffing up and down and approved of him coming into our lives. I sometimes think he ended up liking Jay more than me. In 2014, when I took a sabbatical to Fresno State University he became an intrepid hiker in the high Sierra Nevada Mountains.
In 2015 or 2016 he had his first TPLO (tibial plateau leveling osteotomy) surgery when he blew out one of his ACLs. A few months later he had his second TPLO surgery when he blew out the other knee. He was a wild child in his youth.
In 2020, he went on yet another cross country adventure as we moved from California to Tennessee. He was definitely starting to show his age, but he loved farm life and developed a fond affinity for chicken poop. As time passed on the farm, he was often happier standing back and barking as his younger brother Max would run crazy after squirrels. But he still had one adventure left in him, and in December 2025 he hopped a big jet plane for Portugal. He was very happy to be in a house without stairs for the final few months and enjoyed sleeping, eating, pooping and sleeping some more.
Enjoy these photos of Spooner through the years. We will miss you, Spoon.
