r/labrador • u/bloatedchihuahua • 4h ago
Rainbow bridge🌈 Sullivan Ray
We lost our lab mix Sully on June 19 and it still feels like part of me died as well. He was young, he had only turned 6 on March 16th. He'd been totally fine and then there was no saving him. They think he had a stomach mass that just burst. Sully was gentle and funny and calm and wise and silly and just so many other things. He was found with his siblings and their young, feral mom when he was around 2 days old.
My husband (boyfriend at the time) and I got him at 6 weeks old during covid lockdowns and he just completely changed our lives. I worked at a doggy daycare and used him for temperament testing with dogs because of how easy going he was. Almost any dog that couldn't play with others loved Sully. He just had that affect on them. I swear he was meant to be a therapy dog with the way he would gravitate toward people and animals who needed extra help. When I became pregnant and developed hypertension suddenly, he did everything he could to alert us before it happened, and he probably saved me and my son because of that.
He wasn't just gentle though. He loved to back talk and yell at my coworkers in order to bully them into giving him treats. He could play fetch until his legs gave out and loved a good water hose, but was terrified of swimming. He loved running in front of me just to toot and leave. He was afraid of pinwheels and bikes and cardboard boxes, and had uncontrollable bloodlust over balloons.
He had such an impact on our lives. He helped "approve" of my engagement ring before I ever knew about it. He was in our wedding. We got our first house just so he could have a nice yard. He helped with our pregnancy announcement. From the moment we brought our son home, Sully treated him like he was his baby, constantly checking on him and protecting him from raspberries or being held too high in the air. We even named our son after him. I hope Sully knew that somehow. Sully was our first son. He was our best friend. He was mine and my baby's protector. He had such wise eyes. He was so full of life and love. He was such a bright shining light in our lives and the lives of those he met, and I just wish that light could have burned longer. I wish I could have watched him grow old. I wish he could have watched his baby grow up. I wish his baby could grow up remembering him.