Real-Life Claim Story

Jan-2020-Pet-Gazette-Real-Life-Claim-Story-header

The gift of prevention

When most people think of a “city dog,” they don’t imagine a Great Dane—but for the Gunnarsons, city living wouldn’t be the same without their king-size canine.

Bryan and Melissa Gunnarson spent years searching for a place they could call their forever home. “We moved here from Chicago,” says Melissa. “Before that we were in Virginia. We've been in Seattle for over ten years now, and I think this is going to be home.”

However, despite finding a city to call their own, their family still didn’t feel complete. Then, along came Freya.

Big dog country

Dogs had always been a part of Bryan’s life since childhood —a part that he missed as an adult. “I had a Lab-collie mix growing up as a boy,” Bryan says. “We lived out on a farm, and so I was used to having a medium to larger-size dog.

“When we moved to San Diego, my family switched to small dogs. I had a French poodle as a young boy, and then I got a toy fox terrier and a dachshund. I think my parents were worried that if we got a bigger dog, they'd have to take care of more things.” But Bryan’s love and appreciation for big dogs didn’t disappear with his new, more urban surroundings.

Divine intervention

Melissa, on the other hand, didn’t grow up around dogs. “Bryan wanted to get a dog for a long time,” she says. “And I always was like, ‘Well no, we'll get a dog when we move to a bigger house,’ or ‘No, we'll get a dog when’... fill in the blank.”

During an inspiring trip spent walking the El Camino de Santiago, she had a change of heart. “El Camino is a 500-mile pilgrimage in Spain,” says Melissa. “It’s just like walking and praying, and it was just this really great time of reflection. I came back super Zen, and I was like, ‘We should be happy now. We should get a dog now.’”

She adds, “I’ve just tried to live more in the moment, and Freya certainly helps us a lot with living in the moment. So, it's been good.”