10/24/2025
I’ve struggled to find the words to properly eulogize our special girl, Holly, since we had to say goodbye to her last Saturday. I think I’ve struggled because these are words I never imagined I’d have to write for a very, very long time.
We brought Holly home as a foster on June 24, 2020. She came to Muttville as a stray from Stockton. Muttville named her Clover. She had a mouth full of rotten teeth, open wounds on her tiny body and under her eye. She was afraid of everything and everyone. It was painfully clear that humans hadn’t been kind to her and she didn’t really know how to be a dog.
She bonded closely with our hospice dog, Connie. Time slowly healed the wounds on her body, but her heart and soul took much longer to trust again. Over the next 5 years, she learned how to be a dog mostly by watching our Chloe. She learned how to play, how to be brave, and, little by little, she came out of her shell. Though her beginning was filled with fear, her story became one of resilience, healing, and love.
Her loss came so suddenly. She developed multiple infections that her fragile little body just couldn’t recover from. Despite a 2-day hospitalization, she never regained her strength. In the end, we had to make the impossible choice to let her go—to end her suffering and give her peace.
We always said Holly wasn’t like most dogs. She was unlike any dog I’ve ever known. She was quirky and happy and endlessly endearing. She made us smile every single day.
Everything about her was perfect: her little neck rolls, the way she looked up at you with her big, beautiful eyes, her morning war cry when she was extra happy, her gentle snore that sounded far too big for her tiny body, and even the way she was always just a little bit stinky.
Our hearts are shattered. The hole she’s left behind is one we’ll never truly fill. But we will spend the rest of our lives grateful that she was ours.
Muttville may have named her Clover, but we were the lucky ones. 🍀
