Spot “Mijo” Miller
April 1, 2012 – January 25, 2025
With heavy hearts, we are sharing that our little Mijo crossed over to the Rainbow Bridge at 1:41 PM on Saturday, January 25, 2025, to join his three brothers, Jack, James, and Buster, who preceded him in leaving this place. He left us peacefully and in our arms while in the comfort of his own home surrounded by his family.
To say we are gutted is an understatement, but we do have peace and comfort knowing he was spared from more pain and sickness. Spot, a quiet, kind, and loving soul, also had a clever wit and a stubborn streak, and he valiantly battled several illnesses, defying his vets’ expectations. Unfortunately, he succumbed to his recently diagnosed chronic kidney disease (CKD), which progressed rapidly over the last week.
When he was initially diagnosed with CKD, we were advised that Spot had 3 weeks to live. He fought through his rapidly progressive disease for almost 4 months, and we are so grateful we had extra time with him. We told him it was OK to go when he was ready, and he finally ‘told us’ he was ready. I think that extra time was due to his love for us, and ours for him, until he physically could no longer fight. My heart breaks for myself because I miss him, but I am glad he is no longer suffering. ❤️
We met Spot in May 2019 at one of the most special places ever, Isla Animals, on a charming little island off of Cancún called Isla Mujeres where we would walk some of the shelter dogs to help out. I absolutely love this story…we walked into the shelter, and all of these dogs flocked to us with greetings of excitement, their tails wagging, bodies wriggling, with pure joy and curiosity because we were new to them.
After a while, the dogs were used to our presence and slowly went back to other things. I was still crouched down on one knee, petting another dog, when this little white dog with two large golden brown spots on his back and one small spot on the top of his head, slowly approached me, his big beautiful brown eyes, wide as saucers, staring deeply into my eyes.
He laid his chin on my knee, looked up at me with his gorgeous eyes, and his tail did this adorable little helicopter tail wag. I knew instantly he had to be mine. I learned his name was Spot, he was 7 years old, and an owner surrender along with his daughter, Colita, although they were not a bonded pair. (I believe Colita is a Canadian citizen now.) I also could see how gentle and timid he was, and it tugged on my heart, along with the strong desire to give him everything for his happiness.
Unfortunately, our vacation ended, and we left empty-handed, but I made sure to drop many not-so-subtle hints that Spot would be a great addition to our little family of (then) 3 dogs. One night, almost 3 months later, Kent and I were watching “In the Doghouse,” a documentary about a couple who opened their home up as a sanctuary for dogs (highly recommend, FYI), and I brought up Spot again.
Kent couldn’t contain the secret anymore and blurted out that he was working with Isla Animals to adopt Spot as my 40th birthday gift! (Spot will always be the best gift I ever received.) On August 27, 2019, we drove to meet his amazing flight angel, who brought him to the States with her for us so we could bring him home. ❤️ I like to think he picked us, he ‘adopted’ us, on that fateful day in May.
And Spot thrived. He became such an excellent companion. His gentle love was stronger than any bond imaginable. He made us laugh with his clownish ways. I have never seen anyone love food the way he did…he would come across kinda sleepy but he was the food ninja; he’d try to snap it out of your hand or out of your plate. Spot still didn’t like the cold but loved sunbathing on the deck in the summers, even with super hot temperatures and humidity.
He loved our fireplace in the winter and would just sleep right in front of it. He stuck by me all day as I work from home 95% of the time and he made sure Dad also felt the love when he was home. He loved to snuggle. He was intuitive to your feelings and believed his love was fierce enough to cure your ailments and worries.
Those who knew him know what a special little guy he was. I could go on and on about our little Mijo, including the songs we would spoof for him (including “To Really Love a Mijo”). Being able to love and being loved by Spot are gifts we don’t take for granted. I hope he is running and playing with his brothers from other mothers, eating all the food, soaking up all the sun, and snuggling in all the soft blankets.
I hope Spot visits us and knows how much he is loved, then, now, and forever. We will never stop loving you, and we will never forget you, little Mijo. Until we meet again. ❤️
‘If love could have saved you, you would have lived forever.’
From: Kristina M.
Location: Madison