August 25, 2007 – July 8, 2019

We always heard that when you have kids your pets get knocked down a few notches on the totem pole, and that made complete sense to us. That dog, cat or fish is no longer the center of your universe. Well that never happened with Braddock and not because we didn’t try to knock him down, he just refused to give up the #1 spot. After a while we just tipped our hats and moved on and tried to raise kids at the same time. He has had many nicknames over the years, one of them being “Pepere;” which is French for grandfather. He was a stereotypical old, cranky man, set in his ways but you still love the crap out of them. Side note: neither of the girl’s grandfathers are cranky. 

Braddock wasn’t perfect and we knew early on that he’d never get to the point where we would put one of those proud parent honor roll stickers on our car bumper. That’s probably more on us than on him because we got him at 10 weeks, so his problems are our problems. But that being said, we wanted an English Bulldog but did not want to pay the market price back in 2007, so we found this handsome guy for ⅓ of the cost. We should have known something was up, seeing the discounted price compared to the rest of the litter because clearly the breeder knew what the future held. Honestly, the breeder more than likely knew what each bulldog would grow up to look like and that’s why he set the prices the way he did. You see, for some of the same reasons that Braddock was placed on sale are what led him to have a long life. He was built a little different than his siblings, he had the same face but not on a fat frame. Braddock had more of a longer and leaner build, so not the same type of bulldog you’d see staring in the movies. This meant less of the common health problems with this breed. Our vet always congratulated us on keeping his weight down and said he wanted to show him to other bulldog owners, but we didn’t really make an effort, he was just built that way. Most of Braddock’s health issues were self induced with 2 almost 3 stomach/intestinal surgeries and a bout of pneumonia that almost killed him while we were on our honeymoon.

The average life of an English Bulldog is 8 ½ years, so we’re very thankful we were able to have almost 12 memorable years with him. Just short of his 12th birthday, we made the tough decision that many of us have been faced with, we had to put our leading man down. Even though we had to tend to his needs before any other animal or human, he was more of a sidekick because he just needed the basics and when those needs were met, he wanted nothing more than to be by the side of the ones he loved…and he loved a lot of people over the years, and no shocker…they loved him. He preferred humans over other dogs and that includes his adopted brother Baxter, who he has tolerated for the last 5 years. He was always more of a people person. Often trying to ignore the furry friend at the end of the leash, in order to get to their owner for a pat on the back. Then he always left them with a nice slobber souvenir on their pants as a parting gift. 

Maybe that is why the most popular nickname he earned over the years was “Goose.” We started calling him that years ago and it stuck for some reason, while other ones came and went. Eloise called him this more than Braddock. And think about it, who is quite possibly one of the best sidekicks of all time? “Goose” from Top Gun! Without going into too many personal details, this high maintenance dog would put his needs aside in tough moments. No one is immune to the obstacles life throws at you. Like most pets, he had a sense for knowing when we were under the weather or feeling down. He would cuddle with us and always under the covers. He was the best cuddler and if you weren’t holding him tight enough he’d whimper until you were in the perfect spooning position. Obviously he couldn’t say or do anything but he could just be there and he was perfect at it. He was not the kind of dog we could take to breweries or have him near patrons eating outside because he was always looking for their food but this quality was something we were happy to trade off. Those times in our lives as individuals and as a couple, would have been a lot harder without him. He was with us at our very first apartment together, our second apartment, buying our house, the night we got engaged in the Allagash (this trip led to surgery #2 by swallowing a corn cob whole), our wedding, the adoption of Baxter and of course he welcomed home both girls. He has been there for every major milestone for us, along the way.

The timing of Braddock was impeccable in our relationship. A couple years out of college, finding our career paths and diving in, people buying houses and getting married all around us…we were in a tough place as a couple. Everything was so serious and too many things and people were concerned about our next big steps. With a lot of the fun being sucked out of things very quickly as young adults, we bought a dog on a whim and a silly looking one to boot. So not only was fun injected back into our relationship, it flipped our lives upside down but brought us closer than ever. Braddock taught us to take a step back at a critical point in our lives and our relationship, in order to set the foundation for our future. That foundation was built on a few things but one key ingredient was fun. Making sure that we were enjoying as much as we could out of each day in our lives while still being functioning adults at the same time. 

Just one look at Braddock’s face would make a stranger driving by break out in laughter so imagine living with the guy. So many laughs, smiles, tears, hugs, treats, vet bills and pet insurance payments. Looking back there are no regrets and that is a true blessing. We were lucky to have so much time with him when so many others have had years cut short and it’s often unexpected. The curve ball that we never saw coming was the bond between Eloise and her Goose. It makes this even harder. Maybe we underestimated him living so long or how quickly she’d fall for him. We are starting to see that their time wasn’t cut short but rather the icing on the cake. Braddock taught us so much over the years as adults but he taught Eloise the meaning of friendship, so in the end, maybe their time together was even more valuable.  

Life without him will be so different, but we always have the memories… and thousands of photos.

We had hell-a-va run buddy.

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