These Photos of a Dog Waiting for His Owner Every Day for 11 Years Will Break Your Heart
"I could be gone 10 minutes and he’d be so excited I’m back as if I was gone for years."
We've all heard stories that show just how much a dog's entire life revolves around the moment they see you again, whether it's after 10 days or 10 minutes. There was the dog in China who went viral for waiting for his owner at a train station for up to 12 hours a day, the dogs who patiently stood at hospital door anxiously awaiting their sick human, and now, we have Toby.
A man in Chicago named Roman posted on Imgur about his late dog, Toby, who proves once again just how deep canine loyalties go.
Every day for 11 years, Roman came home to see Toby staring out of the window, eagerly awaiting his return from a long day at work.
But after Toby lost his battle with cancer in February, it's been hard for Roman to come home every day to see that spot so empty.
Toby came into Roman's life when he was two years old and, at first, they actually didn't get along so well.
"The first time I saw him, he took a poop on my living room carpet as soon as my ex put him down," Roman told Bored Panda. "I love dogs, but … he wanted attention all the time. He wanted to be around you. I had a hard time getting along with a dog this smart and with so much personality and sensitivity."
But once Roman's ex told him to treat Toby "like a little person," everything changed. "Since that day, I made an effort. And so did he," he said.
Soon, Roman and Toby had the kind of mutual appreciation and unconditional love that only the canine-human bond can yield.
"We became the closest friends and when my ex and I broke up, she got to keep the apartment just so I could keep Toby," he said. "He was so sweet. And very people-motivated. He loved to be around people."
As his bond with Roman grew, so did Toby's immense excitement at seeing his beloved human come home.
"He knew when I would get home. He had a sense for it. He'd be in the window and then by the door and I could hear him whine with excitement from outside before I even came in," Roman said. "He then would try to jump on me and lick my face and was just a bundle of pure, full-on excitement. Sometimes I could be gone 10 minutes and he'd be so excited I'm back as if I was gone for years."
Toby initially beat his battle with cancer, but then things took a turn for the worse. "His last three days he was not keeping anything down and was very lethargic. So we all said goodbyes and took him to the vet," Roman said. "This was the most painful decision I had to make in my life so far and it still haunts me four months later like it was yesterday."
While Toby is no longer with Roman here on earth, there's no question he's out there waiting for him with just as much excitement as always.
And for more stories about the closeness between dogs and their humans, check out This Viral Twitter Post Perfectly Captures How Hard It Is to Lose a Pet.
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