In Memoriam – Gabriel Mikhail Parsan  – Dec 3, 2007 – August 15, 2023

Our Love Story

Our beloved little boy is now in Heaven with our parents, relatives, his furry cousins and all the Angels.

Rest in Peace 🕊 Gabriel (Gabby) Mikhail Parsan, our forever love!

You’re with us always and we with you, in our hearts, minds and thoughts always.

You are precious and irreplaceable.

We will honour your life through advocacy and donations for food and medical assistance for other pets and we will hold you in prayer daily no different to before.

You will forever be the love of our lives and be the brightest light that ever shone in our lives. We never deserved you.

Thank you for blessing our lives for almost 16 years. We love you, son.

Not going to try to write a tribute to him because I can never do it justice and it hurts too much right now.

However, science says that dogs are an interspecies bond like no other (not that we ever referred to him as a dog).

He used to climb hills and roll down the hill as a baby. He’d have us watch him play. He never chewed furniture or clothes but loved games (and inspecting work or anything being done for approval). He humped pillows for attention when he was less than a year old. He loved going for long, long walks always looking back to make sure we were looking at him. When less than a year, his ears were like airplane wings when walking briskly. He lifted his legs so we could remove leaves – he deserved valet services.  He was notably particular about who he would associate with. Smart boy!

He waited for us to wipe his paws when coming in. He wore shoes for walks and wiped his mouth after eating and would only drink filtered water with the Breath mint flavor for dogs’ teeth and it had to be changed after every drink. We gladly obliged.

What is it about dogs, exactly, that make us bond so closely with them? How can we not? Have you seen those eyes? They are mesmerizing. They say a dog induces oxytocin release when they stare at their ‘owners’ and it is the same as falling in love. We wouldn’t dare speak for him, but we can attest that we loved him more and more every time we looked at him and fall in love more each time we look at his pictures.

Apparently, dogs have had to adapt to living with humans over some past 10,000 years. And they’ve done it very well: They’re the only animal to have evolved specifically to be our companions and friends. Anthropologist Brian Hare has developed the “Domestication Hypothesis” which ‘explains’ how dogs morphed from their grey wolf ancestors into the socially skilled animals that we now interact with in very much the same way as we interact with other people.

They provide us with such unconditional, uncritical positive feedback. (As the old saying goes, “May I become the kind of person that my dog thinks I already am.”)

What did Gabs love to do?

Eat (but was always on target re weight and health), go on walks (shorter these past few years), family gatherings, opening presents, being with me doing anything mostly in my office, on the deck and Netflix-ing. I called him my Boss. He loved car rides (I should say van rides as we got a Dodge caravan with fold down seats called the Gabmobile just for him). He loved Saturday night treats and a movie with us and Sunday brunches and sitting with me after while I watched TV Mass. He loved his birthday parties that we celebrated in style with loads of foods and gifts and family. He loved sitting under the Christmas tree. He was a master negotiator. He traded glasses for treats or anything he took for treats. He was a fair and ethical negotiator.

Did I mention he loved food? His favorite toy (and he had 28 toy boxes filled and a toy bank still full) was a barbell chew where you could stuff treats. We bought a box of 250. We spared no expense on him as he was priceless.

With his favorite Barbell stuffed with treats or Benny Bully. He loved it and learned to get them out masterfully at a young age.

How did we meet?

We set out to find a brown, female cocker spaniel to name Lady (Lady and the Tramp) and ended up with a white and blonde, male, American cocker spaniel whom we named Gabriel (Gabby). By the way, he chose us. All in the family initially chose him because he was so gorgeous but nicknamed Bitey. We veto-ed that well because of the name Bitey – hello. However, when we went to choose, this little dude kept following us. We asked who that was, and they said George. There was no George, but they said that Bitey was now George. One look into those eyes and we forgot he was ever called Bitey. He belonged with us. The ‘G’ came from George. Naming him after an Archangel seemed appropriate. It really was.  Gabriel is one of the strongest archangels. “He makes God’s message understandable to people and helps them to accept it with a pure heart”.

How did he make us better people?

He was gentle with me and the kids, playful and fun-loving. He played a bit rough with his Dad and he showed us more love and devotion that we could never imagine. He was super active and curious and stayed with me for long hours at the computer but gave me the look knowing that I’d have to make it up to him.

He got all the attention he deserved though I suspect he wanted more.

He loved the fireplace and toasted his butt like his Dad.

What were our favorite moments with Gabby?

Any time he spent with us was precious. He loved opening presents, going for walks, was a food connoisseur, was slightly snooty (like his mom), loved family time and was loyal and loving just wanting to be with me no matter where I was or what I was doing. He was curious and could solve tough puzzles though they say American cockers have average intelligence. Well, not our boy. Extremely intelligent. He has his bedroom (roll your eyes – don’t care) though he spent most nights on the bed with me after booting my husband. He trusted me implicitly for grooming him and doing anything that needed to be done. He was the best ‘boy’ in the world to us. He used to chase butterflies and literally smell roses and flowers. How many puppers have you seen do that? So very special.

He had a Grade 4/6 heart murmur, but it was managed with meds. He had wellness tests and was treated by our beloved Dr. Kirby with love and diligence. This liver disease-gall bladder issue which came suddenly surprised us all. We are grateful for being able to take him to OVC at Guelph and thank Dr. Oblak, Dr. Hawkins, Dr. Charlebois, Dr Ayoub and Dr. Bersenas and the biggest hearted Rea-Lee Tedesco who hugged and kissed him when we were not allowed in the ICU.

He survived the anesthesia and surgery against all odds (what a fighter), but it was too much for his precious little heart which stopped near 6 am this morning (Aug 15). We just hoped he knew then how much we loved him as we were obviously not in the room at the time.

We know not everyone can afford this kind of care and will work towards helping others in his name. He has even given us another gift while passing to advocate for other animals. His love has no end.

I do have some suggestions for the ICU team though. Our boy surmounted the impossible and for someone to call me to ask if they should perform CPR or DNR after going through these umpteen times, they failed him wasting time. He had an A team in surgery and a D team in ICU. This must change.

We are so proud of Gabby. So very proud of his beautiful little life and all his training certificates and his ever-loving heart. Was a states-puppy to his cousins. He may have been smaller but led with integrity and maturity.

Asking for a bit of time as this is incredibly difficult.

No such thing as ‘just a dog’. Lord knows Gabby wasn’t just a dog but then again, he wasn’t a just anything. He was extra special.

No amount of time would ever be enough, but I wished we had even more.

All of us should be lucky enough to love a dog and be loved back by them. We are so unworthy, and we thank him for the many blessings he gave us as he is now with the angels. We are heartbroken and hurt. The house is missing the biggest love of all, but we will learn to honor him when we can pick up ourselves back up. We are just too pained at the moment.

We thank all our friends and family for their support to our family. It means more than you know, and we can’t properly express our gratitude but ‘Thank you so very much’.

Sleep with the Angels my darling. We will see you again. ♥♥♥ We love you immeasurably.

Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace, Saint Francis Prayer

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.

O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.

We received so much from you, my love, and it was a privilege to love and care for you.