Eight years ago my husband was looking for an emotional support animal when we came across an ad for a puppy looking for his forever home. After a very long conversation with his owner, truthfully it was almost an interrogation, we set up a day to meet him. It was love at first sight for both my husband and him and he immediately became part of our family.

His name is Tyson (yes, he’s named after Mike) and I swear he is a reincarnated person in the body of a 70lb bowling ball with legs. Tyson will hunt you down for a piece of cheese or a slice of watermelon. He will sit next to you on the sofa and watch sports and movies, and when he inevitably falls asleep will scare you with his dreamy barks and howls.

He is the sweetest boy ever to live and I loathe the day he is no longer with us. I know that the future with him is far shorter than our past but I hold onto every day and do whatever I can to make them count as his best. He is our boy, our Tyty, our Tytizzel.