When Daniel Hove was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, family and friends worked together to help out during this difficult time from Air Force veteran to fire chief. But no one supported him better than Daniel’s faithful dog Ganner, an 11-year-old lab who rarely leaves his owner.
Photos from Daniel’s recent years show the faithful dog, despite being a 90-pound dog, cuddling in his human bed in bed and crouching on his lap. Whatever the case, Ganner made sure he wasn’t more than a few inches apart.
“They were best friends until the very end,” Daniel’s daughter Heather Nicoletti told Care 11. “They were hunting friends, and they went everywhere together.” So it was not surprising that while Daniel was lying down, his faithful dog also suddenly fell ill.
“When you worry, you worry about your dog, you worry about your dad, you worry about your dog,” his daughter said, recalling how father and Garner had always worked together. “My father did not answer, neither did the dog,” she said. So as soon as we saw how the dog was doing, we knew he was coming because he wasn’t moving anymore and he wasn’t feeling well.”
One day, as the old dog became increasingly lethargic and his arms swelled, Heather realized it was unfortunately time for Ganner to go to bed. “I called the veterinary clinic where I worked before, and they took me right away and put them to sleep. And after about an hour and a half, her father left too,” she said.
But as much as the grief at the loss of a father who is a loving parent, a loyal veteran, a beloved community member, and a loyal mentor and friend to everyone he meets, Heather was at least as comforted as her father had never been. She had to say goodbye to her beloved puppy. Such divisions are painful for gunslingers who can never stand being far away from man’s best friend.
“I told him I didn’t know what was going to be a bigger shock to him,” Heather said. “To take him, to end – to put him in bed – to end his suffering, or if you let him survive his father’s death. I think it will kill him anyway. We knew they would go together. I didn’t know it would make a difference in a few hours.”
“The sniper would have been impossible without his father,” Heather said. “I think he decided to go with him.”