How this soldier stayed by his dying dog’s side till its final moments will make you ugly-cry

The fact that there is no best friend more faithful and unconditionally loving than a dog, is well established and beyond doubt. As Josh Billings aptly put it, ‘a dog is the only thing on this Earth that loves you more than he loves himself’. So, when US Air Force’s Kyle Smith realized his 11-year old German Shepherd’s last few days were near, the soldier could not have left his mate’s side for even a second. That’s the least we can do in return for the unconditional love dogs give us, after all.

Kyle Smith

Bodza joined the US Air Force in 2006 but it was not until 2012 that he and Smith became a team. Kyle was quick to adopt Bodza when it was time for the Air Force dog to retire. The two formed an unbreakable bond and it was very tough on Smith when Bodza developed degenerative myelopathy, a progressive and incurable disease that affects a dog’s spinal cord. When things started getting worse, Kyle had to take the call that is best described as one any dog owner dreads taking. Since Bodzo wasn’t going to get any better, Smith decided to put him to sleep and rid him of all the pain.

When Kyle went to a clinic to bid goodbye to his best friend forever, the moment was anything but easy on him. He hugged Bodzo till the last second of his life and sobbed uncontrollably. In an emotional post, Dogs of Freedom put out this tear-jerking post on Instagram.