We adopted Gibson in June of 2013 after losing our 14 year old rescue lab Pike. It all started with us “just fostering.”  That lasted about 5 days. He stole our hearts.

Gibson came to us heartworm positive, with about 40% of the hair of a normal dog due to terrible skin allergies. No amount of stinky sulfur baths would help his itching. He became one of the first dogs in the US to be prescribed Apoquel and it changed his life.  From the first day he took it, he lived a normal life. 

Gibson had an amazing sense for who needed him the most and was always by their side – if someone was sick or stressed he would always be with them.  He had just enough of a mischievous side to keep it interesting.  He hated it when we watched football in the fall – he didn’t like his people to be annxious and would just sit there looking at us, hoping everything would be OK.

In 2020 he got cancer in his nasal passage / sinuses.  He was otherwise very healthy.  We had a choice to attack the cancer or likely risk losing him in the coming months.  We all agreed it was a simple choice. Gibson did radiation treatments at Auburn University weekly for several months.  He learned the layout of the Auburn University Hotel and even knew which desk attendant gave out the most treats. When he ran out of the cancer treatment center on his last treatment day, wearing an autographed Auburn vet school cape, we were all relieved it was over. The cancer never returned.

Two years ago he became big brother to Tucker… another chocolate lab rescue who had been severely abused and neglected.  We never imagined how much they would love each other. Gibson immediately sensed that he needed help and he taught him everything he knew.  Gibson was an amazing swimmer – Tucker as a puppy was very confused by the water but now he enters it with the reckless joy that Labs are know for.

Whenever we cooked salmon Gibson became a different dog. He would start pacing. He decided that the no begging and no food from the table rules were non existent.  The second the grill fired up and he became “persistent” and we all loved it. He knew he’d be getting more than a morsel of that wholesome goodness.

We could go on forever about how much we loved this dog. We miss Gibson more than we could ever describe but he lived an amazing, full life and brought us so much joy.

Cheers to Gibson and salmon every night in the other side of the rainbow bridge.