Beloved senior dog gets one more snow day thanks to crew at Calgary rink

Anyone who has said goodbye to a beloved pet knows it can be one of most difficult things you will ever do in your life.

And in the same breath, most people would do anything in their power to make their pet’s final days or hours alive as special as possible before they cross the rainbow bridge.

That was the case for one Calgary man, who took to Reddit with a special request after learning that his 11.5-year-old Bernese Mountain dog had only a couple days left to live.

They shared Brooke’s picture to the Calgary subreddit and explained that she loves snow, but wasn’t going to make it until winter.

“Does anyone know of any rinks or anything that has a good pile of snow behind them so she can go lay on the snow one last time?” the post asked.

It didn’t take long for the call for help to get people's attention and the poster returned to say that the crew at Bowness Sportsplex immediately started piling snow outside for Brooke.

On her final day on Earth, despite the fact it was the middle of August, she got to enjoy one last roll around in the snow thanks to the selfless efforts of the crew at Bowness Sportsplex.

After the man and his girlfriend got back home from the rink with Brooke, they carried their beloved dog out of the truck and onto the lawn in a nice shady area where she loved to hang out.

“She laid there for a few hours while we said our goodbyes, and she gave us kisses, and then she went,” he wrote on a follow-up post to Reddit.

He said they all cried like they’ve never cried before, even his father-in-law who never shows emotion, after Brooke took her final breaths.

But he added that after the prognosis from the vet on Friday, “we made it the best three days we could.”

That included one last trip down to the river, all of Brooke’s favourite meals, bacon treats all day, backyard hangs and, of course, one last play session in the snow.

“Brooke was loved so so much, but she did so much more for us,” the man said at the end of his Reddit post.

“I'll miss my girl so much, but we know she is in a better place, and we know it was the right thing to let her go. Rest well Brooke, we won't forget you.”