Dear Friends of Boz,
I'm writing you with sadness in my heart and tears rolling down my face. On Friday May 22, 2009 I made the decision, with the help of Laura-Jane, to put an end to Boz's suffering. It was the hardest decision that we have made in our lives, but we did it knowing that Boz had been a proud service dog and wouldn't want to go on if he couldn't have his dignity. I won't dwell on all the medical problems that Boz was dealing with, instead, I would like to talk about the joy he brought into my life, the life of Laura-Jane, and the lives of everyone who met him during his tenure as a service dog.
As many of you know, Boz and I began our lives together in May of '97 and it was one hell of a run! Once Boz and I bounded, there was nothing that we couldn't do together. We became one! I used to call him, my adopted son!
When it came to women, if I didn't see one, he made sure I saw her. At times, you could see both of our heads navigate in order to get a better view. I just wish I could have trained him to tell the difference between single and married women! There were times when he would make women stop and pet him and of course, I had to talk to them and check out. When we were back on our way, I would look at Boz and say, good boy!
Boz came in to my life a few months after the passing of my father, I often wonder if God put him in my life to fill the void left when my father passed away. Boz, too, had a great sense of humor. I can remember asking him to turn off the light in the bedroom which he would without thinking about it, but sometimes he would turn it back and look at me. He would repeat this several times before finally leaving it off and jumping on the bed with me!
When we were living and working in the Washington, DC area, we had numerous meetings on Capital Hill and on rare occasions, we were invited to the White House. We even met President Clinton and Vice President Glore! We would also ride the Metro (subway) everyday and one day the station manager was helping me with my pass and she dropped her eye glasses. So what does Boz do? He grabbed the glasses and proceeded to hand them to her. At first she thought he was going eat them, but she finally realized what he was doing and she was cool with it! Now that's a service dog!
I could go on with more stories of our adventures together and believe me, there are plenty of them! Instead, I want everybody to know how special Boz was to me. Besides from being my first service dog, Boz became my son, my friend, my confidant. I could tell and talk to him about anything and I knew he would keep it a secret until his dying day! And he never talked back to me! Boz was also very devoted to me, I think the one thing he strived for in life was to make me happy and he did just that! Even during his last few days with us, he would stay out in the living room with me until I was ready to bed. I often wondered why would he rather lie on the living room floor than on his nice comfortable bed? All I can think of is devotion to me. What's funny is that he always made sure he knew where Laura-Jane and I were in the house, that just amazed me about Boz! He also figured out the one place in the house to park himself and see everything. Of course, it meant we had to go through him to get anywhere in the house. Now, was that a clever dog or what?
My final thoughts. As Boz roamed around the house the last few hours of his specious life, I started to think of all of the good times we had together during the twelve years he was in my life. Ten of those twelve years Laura-Jane was a part of lives and I knew he loved and enjoyed having her in his life! I think it made his life even more complete.But in his own special way, he let her know who was the boss. Him, of course! Lastly, I want to thank God for putting Boz in my life and for the honor of having Boz as my service dog!
Thank you,
Gus Estrella
