A Tribute to Gidget

Gidget’s story is, above all, a reflection of how deeply she loved her Sanctuary family, and how we loved her back. Unlike most dogs, she found true comfort over the 12 years we had with her. The Sanctuary became her home, and the people who cared for her became her family.

In 2014, Gidget was only 8 months old when she was left at a veterinary hospital overnight with a severely broken leg. Found that next morning by veterinary staff, they administered care for her injuries the best they could before we were able to take over her supportive care at our recently opened Sanctuary facility. No one had any idea of how her injury occurred or what life was like in her first months, but we were confident we could provide her with a safe place to land and the space to heal.

Thanks to generous donors, we were able to provide the financial support Gidget needed for surgery and ongoing care throughout her entire life – starting with regaining the use of her leg. Thanks to our amazing community of staff and volunteers, we could give her something just as important: the time, patience, and emotional support she would need to heal and enjoy life.

Even while she was healing from her surgery, Gidget had a lot of typical young pit bull traits: full of energy, curious, and incredibly smart. In fact, she was the kind of smart that could get us into trouble if we didn’t keep her mind busy! Training sessions and puzzle games quickly became some of our favorite ways to spend time with her. She loved treats, loved learning, and loved figuring things out. Each new behavior she mastered was more than just training—it was an opportunity to build her confidence, strengthen her trust in people, and help her discover just how capable she was.

But it took time.

Her journey shows the importance of meeting every rescue pet where they are and adjusting to what they need to succeed. It did not take long for us to see how much her rough start in life had affected her. Gidget had likely experienced little to no socialization with people, and she had a very difficult time coping with the world around her, especially when it came to new people.

It could take multiple meetings when Gidget was meeting someone new. We adjusted our protocols and found ways to ease her nerves, allowing her to build trust at her own pace. On paper, Gidget needed very specific introductions to new people, could become aggressive towards strangers entering her space, and did not get along with dogs.

And still, her Sanctuary family grew—and grew—and grew… and she learned to find peace, comfort, and showed us so much love.

There was a tremendous amount of behavioral work and physical therapy involved in caring for feisty Gidget. Our community of dog enthusiasts, staff members, volunteers, and canine medical professionals put in countless hours to help her thrive. But when people who knew Gidget talk about her, they all seem to share the same sentiment: it was worth it.

Gidget was one of their dogs. She was family.

For many dogs, a home setting is the ideal place to thrive. Any facility can be stressful when dogs are living around other animals and meeting different people. But Gidget showed us time and time again that the Sanctuary was different.

The Sanctuary was home.

She was quite the mascot for Our Companions too. Believe it or not, she was one of the few dogs eager and excited to wear a costume or flashy bandana for a photoshoot or holiday.

Gidget would go on field trips to quiet areas with staff, although many of those outings included visits to the veterinarian! For many years, she received monthly acupuncture, energy work, and laser appointments off campus. She was also our first successful patient for underwater treadmill hydrotherapy. Initially a stressful chore, Gidget and our Canine Wellness Manager ended up creating a welcomed routine starting with the vet visit and ending at the Dunkin drive through for a pup cup and munchkins. “Gidget would drool for her munchkins! It was so cute. Towards the end, when she refused munchkins, we knew it was a sign she was declining.”

She had a great memory for her friends, so much that staff started a list of “Gidget approved people” because it grew so long. She would remember someone she had welcomed into her fold even years in between visits.

One staff member took Gidget to her house for a field trip, but Gidget never seemed as settled there as she was within the familiar rhythm of her Sanctuary routine. Staff who knew her best shared the feeling that Gidget would have mourned the loss of the Sanctuary and all her friends. A larger home environment simply never seemed to offer her the same sense of comfort and belonging.

Over the years, she learned to wear a muzzle, attended agility and tricks classes at our Valerie Friedman Program Center, successfully navigating a group training environment. Once she entered training mode, Gidget was focused and ready to show everyone what she could do. Staff fondly remember Gidget offering up the new behaviors she had learned in class the previous week – unprompted showing off and looking for treats!

As the years passed, Gidget mellowed. She gained more friends at the veterinary office and throughout the Our Companions community. Her circle continued to grow, even as she remained particular about who she welcomed into it. And those lucky enough to be in that circle knew there was nothing quite like being loved by Gidget.

She had certain volunteers wrapped around her little paw, especially when treats and attention were involved. Her family even kept a spreadsheet of all the tricks she knew: if you happened to sneeze near her, Gidget could bring you a tissue!!

Her intelligence never stopped surprising the people who loved her.

Neither did her resilience.

Gidget’s broken leg never healed properly, and as she aged, she faced increasing joint and neck pain from a possible pinched nerve. Her care continued to be more involved, with physical therapy and massage, monthly acupuncture, energy work and laser therapy.

Along with medical diagnosis, her hearing and eyesight waned in recent years, but our staff was always finding ways to meet her needs creatively. For instance, she learned how to respond to a gentle buzzer on her harness so her relationships with her people did not have to suffer. We also used lights and doorbells to let her know we were entering the cottage or coming to give her a meal.

Toward the end of her life, she began showing signs of geriatric-onset laryngeal paralysis and polyneuropathy (GOLPP), a progressive neurological condition that can make breathing and swallowing more difficult and gradually affect mobility and quality of life. There is no cure for GOLPP, so our focus became keeping Gidget comfortable, closely monitoring her changing needs, and making sure she continued to have the best quality of life possible. Along with suspected laryngeal paralysis, Gidget was also diagnosed with Cushing’s Disease. Cushing’s is an umbrella term for hyperadrenocorticism; essentially Gidget was producing too much stress hormone which results in lack of engagement, loss of interest in food, and can also impact mobility.

As with so much of Gidget’s care over the years, there was no one-size-fits-all answer. We kept her world as calm as we could, scheduling visits with her friends to say goodbye. Her pain management medication wasn’t working as well as it used to. There were days she refused treats and meals. One day, she wasn’t able to stand up. We couldn’t prolong any suffering and kept her as calm and comfortable as we could during her last days.

Caring for Gidget was always about listening to her and honoring what she was telling us.

Gidget’s fame grew as she was often featured in our Sanctuary Social, throughout our social media, and she was even the official Tour Guide on our website – this time showing off her home instead of her tricks! People who never met Gidget have reached out in support and compassion, with sympathy for her loss.

Gidget taught us that family doesn’t always look the way we expect it to. Sometimes, it is a collection of people who patiently earn your trust, one meeting at a time. Sometimes, it is a cottage, a familiar routine, a morning walk, a training session, or a trip through the Dunkin’ drive-through.

And sometimes, family is simply the place where you finally feel safe enough to be yourself.

For 12 years, that place was the Sanctuary. Gidget lived a full life with her family, and we can confidently say it was better than wherever she was before finding her way home in 2014. As a senior pup, she aged gracefully but the pain and coexisting conditions ended up outweighing a positive quality of life. When we couldn’t find food she enjoyed, couldn’t move around as she used to, and she stopped seeking out her family, we gave her the best last days that we could and said goodbye surrounded by family.