Howard

The blog post that has taken 112 days to write!

Howard lived for 16 years, 8 months, and 11 days.

If you knew Howard, you know; and if you didn't know him, I hope I can explain his importance to my life in a way that does him justice.

While he was indeed a dog, Howard was my everything, my heartbeat, my energy, my reason to wake up in the morning; whether I wanted to or not. From the moment he was placed in my arms I knew my life would be changed forever...and trust me it was. Not only was my life changed but my family's life was flipped on its head, we had no idea how much we could love till he was in our lives.

Howard suffered from constant separation anxiety, which if you know a dog with this,  you can understand the struggle. He could not be left alone for extended periods of time, so we had to find appropriate care options, YES he went to doggy daycare and he loved it! I would like to take a quick moment to thank the dog daycares that he went to as they honestly were amazing and treated my boy so well. So thank you to Kinetic Canine in Victoria (website) and Go Dog LA in Los Angeles (website) you saved both my sanity and Howard's. Also a giant Thank You to Judy and Stewart who were Howard's Dog sitters and helped me out so much even when I was in L.A.,  I know how much you loved Howard and he loved you both so much.

Now you may be wondering why I am writing a blog post about my dog when MoMa Baby makes baby clothing. The bottom line is MoMa Baby would not exist if it were not for Howard.

Howard is the reason for it all, while he was born and raised on Vancouver Island, Canada he was also a downtown L.A. dog and a Vancouver dog. When we moved back to Canada from L.A. Howard aged very quickly. The cold winter weather did a number on his arthritis, he developed an abscessed tooth, and a serious ear infection that landed him in the animal hospital for 3 days. Yet he bounced back from all of these with a new found zest for life, he surprised me everyday with his will to LIVE. However these extra ailments on top of his separation anxiety made it near impossible for me to accept job offers as most required open/flexible work hours and at this point I refused to put him in daycare for full days with fear that something would happen and I wouldn't be there for him. So this is how MoMa Baby started, I needed a way to work from home, and have the flexibility to give Howard the best care possible. Unfortunately 2 weeks before our official launch Howard was diagnosed with very aggressive skin cancer, he gave everything he had left fighting to live.  

112 days ago he lost that fight.

This post is about Howard but I am broken. 

There has to be more...

As result of my heartbreak I have worked tirelessly with my amazing business partner and mother (Maru) to introduce to you all The Howard Collection.

As a way to preserve his memory we created this print that contains his face and an actual imprint of his paw. 

Click HERE to shop The Howard Collection.

As a way to do more we will be donating all net proceeds from the sale of this collection to a not-for-profit animal organization, as well as donating dog beds made from the remnants of our Organic Cotton which also allows us to have ZERO textile waste.

Click HERE to shop The Howard Collection

If you made it to this point, congratulations and THANK YOU. If you knew Howard please comment with a memory you have of him.

I would also like to take the time to acknowledge some special people that have helped me throughout this difficult time.

Thank you to;

My rock... Maru! without you I wouldn't be.

Ale, Clare and Lil'M your support has meant the world to me.

Micah... you may have never met Howard but your response to his passing was what I needed.

Last but certainly not least....

HOWARD you taught me how to care, love and live. Thank You is not enough and I will miss you forever.