Today marks the end of an era. The last of the OGs (Oscar, Jasper, and Otis) crossed the rainbow bridge this morning.

Oscar at the bottom in the thunder jacket, Otis in the middle and Jasper at the top.

Otis started life on my parents’ farm, terrorizing and annoying my mom (he was my dad’s pup). At the age of 2, he came to live with us, where his life took a 180.

At 4, we moved internationally, living in Switzerland (he even has a Swiss passport to prove it) and traveling abroad. Jasper was around for this adventure also.

At 7, we became a camper-camping family, which he fucking loathed. He didn’t like being hot, nor did he understand why anyone would willingly spend time somewhere without a sofa. If we left him inside where there was both air conditioning AND a sofa, he’d be pissed as hell for being left out. #FOMO

At 12, we bought a farm (or property intended to become a farm) and once again he became a country dog on the weekends.

Now at the age of 13 years 3 months and 16 days he has made his final adventure where he will be reunited with his brothers (or at least I like to think so). We are having Otis cremated, and we’ll be burying all three OGs together in our orchard at the farm, once again reunited.

Things Otis loved:

Food — It didn’t matter what. He would eat it.

Toys — He was a mean little honey badger when it came to his toys. The toy box was typically out of service for this reason.

Kisses — They stank to high heaven, but he was cute, so we looked past it.

Attention — This was more pronounced in his younger years, though he was always a good sport with the campground kids who wanted to pet and hold him (yes, always supervised).

Car rides — Specifically car rides where he could sit on JD’s mother-in-law: the middle-seat-sized armrest.

Soft, fuzzy blankets — If you had one, he would be hogging it.

Sleeping — He was the best sleep buddy ever. Arguments between houseguests over who got to sleep with Otis were numerous.

Howling it out — JD and I would start howling, enticing Otis and Khaleesi to join in while Penny hid in the other room.

Other animals — He always got along with our cats, other dogs, the horses on our farm, and the cows at my dad’s farm. He was fearless.

Things Otis disliked:

Camping — As mentioned above.

Fun — If we were roughhousing with Khaleesi, he would bark and get right in the middle of it. Fun needed to stop immediately.

Being left out — Again, see above. #FOMO

Penny — She is, after all, a Border Collie without a job, so she took it upon herself to designate him as said job.

Otis, it has been a crazy ride with you, and I loved getting to see the well-deserved old man you became.

We will miss your opinionated, grumpy, stubborn, brave, and comical personality. You’ve left another hole in my heart, but I know you are no longer suffering, and I hope Oscar and Jasper were there to welcome you.

We love you, buddy. Life will forever be changed without you.

RIP Otis
5/5/13 – 8/21/26