08/06/2026
Today was the hardest day of my life. I said goodbye to my little princess, Ruca. I choose to believe she is running and playing with all of her friends and her siblings that preceded her. Natty, Gracie and Nubberz have been waiting for her. She was the best dog I’ve ever known and I love her so much. Anyone that knows me, even a little bit, know Ruca. She traveled the country with me on countless adventures. From AZ and CO to California, Oregon and Washington she was by my side. Head sticking out the sunroof trying to get that hound dog nose as many scents as she could. Her favorite places were Camper’s Paradise, Bozeman and Missoula, where she could see her uncles Luke, Matt and Chris. She loved tearing around the mountainside and rolling around in bear s**t or any stinky thing she could find in the woods or on the beach. She was also the unofficial greeter at the old taproom at FBC. They allowed her to be in the brewery without a leash because she was so nice and friendly to EVERYONE including other dogs. I worry about Ryder. She was his rock and they were inseparable. In fact, Ryder had shut down at the rescue after his brother was adopted. Other dogs at the rescue couldn’t get him out of his funk. The day we brought Ruca to meet him and see how they would react to one another, they sniffed each other briefly and went anout their separate business. However, the rescue said that was the first time in over a month that he interacted with anything or anyone. After that, they were right beside one another. He has Afton to keep him@company but they just don’t have the relationship he had with Ruca, yet. They’re both going to need extra love in the coming weeks and months. That’s good because they are going to get more than they are accustomed to. I think we all need the extra love moving forward. I normally wouldn’t have posted about this but Ruca befriended so many people over the years, I wanted to let people know. Please give your animals extra love tonight. You never know how long you have with them and all they want to do is please you and give you all the love they have to give. I will always miss and love you my little princess Ruca😢🥰