Farewell to Bear

Celebrating the life of a beloved canine champion

Dec 29, 2023

Bear “Beario” Triana

4/10/2011 – 12/28/2023

“How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” – A.A. Milne

It’s with the heaviest heart that I must inform you that my sweet Bear passed away yesterday morning. She was almost 13. She went very peacefully in my arms, and I was with her the whole time. It took all my strength to keep my composure in her last moments, but somehow I did it, so she was not anxious or worried, and had her dad speaking to her in a happy, calming way. She simply drifted off into eternal sleep.

I got Bear when she was just about 1 years old. The decision to say goodbye was the most difficult one I’ve ever made, but this past week her health problems became too much for her and were untreatable. We had one final night together to cuddle and smooch, and for me to spoil her with treats.

“Once you have had a wonderful dog, a life without one is a diminishment.” – Dean Koontz

I will spare you all the details and just let you know that Bear could no longer walk or do anything she enjoyed and, while not in extreme pain, her discomfort and sadness was obvious. She also had a myriad of other health problems she’d been battling for years. I was always so proud of her for kicking cancer’s ass for so long! She remained active, happy, and funny through it all.

While this loss devastates me, I take solace in knowing I gave her a wonderful life and made her golden years extra special. I’ve been writing full time for well over two years now, and by working from home, Bear was always with me instead of being alone while I worked all day. She was a popular staple at many of the conventions and book signings I attended, and a lot of my fans got to meet her (and became even bigger fans of her)! She even met several celebrities who adored her, including Dee Wallace-Stone and Danny Pintauro (ironically the mom and son from Cujo, haha).

Bear and I traveled across the country, hiking some of the best trails in America, including Garden of the Gods in Shawnee, Arizona’s Painted Desert, Hocking Hills State Park, and The Grand Canyon. In total, she hiked and visited 28 states in her lifetime. On the rare occasions she could not travel with me, she always stayed with close friends, not in a kennel with strangers.

As many of you know, Bear was diagnosed with lymphoma in the summer of 2021. So many of you contributed to the Chemo for Bear fundraiser, which I am eternally grateful for. It was a truly overwhelming level of support, and the treatment was a huge success. Without it, she would have been dead in two weeks. But instead, she got two and half more years, and stayed happy and active until the last few days of her life (we had our final walk on Christmas Day). It’s rare for a dog’s cancer to go into remission for that long. All the treatments were well worth it.

“Dogs do speak, but only to those who know how to listen.” – Orhan Pamuk

Bear was a dock diver, an agility dog, an active hiker, an emotional support animal, and a beloved companion. In my darkest times, she was the greatest source of comfort. In happy times, she shared my joy and then added to it.

For years before I was a professional author, I was a professional dog trainer. I trained Bear to participate in a wide variety of sports and do all sorts of tricks, including dancing, catching a frisbee in mid-air, and fetching me a drink from a cooler. She was a champion dock diver and won Top Dog at Hartford’s Dog Fair for her obedience and agility. This was in 2019, the same summer I won my first Splatterpunk Award.

She was also my service dog for my bipolar disorder. All her training was done by me, using treat-based, positive reinforcement. She enjoyed every second of it and was one of the smartest dogs I’ve ever trained. She even helped me train puppies by leading by example. Bear was also featured three times in articles I wrote on dog training and hiking for Backwoods Survival Guide, giving her a little international fame, and she’s also on the cover of the second edition of my first novel, The Ruin Season. My werewolf novel, The Thirteenth Koyote, is dedicated to her.

Everyone thinks their dog is the greatest dog ever, and the funny thing is, everyone is right. But Bear was an exceptional dog, a true canine queen who brought happiness to everyone she met. She also taught me many things, underlined the importance of kindness and the power of love, intensified my appreciation for nature, and strengthened my adoration for all animals. While my heart is breaking, I am so grateful to have had such a special dog in my life. The joy she brought me was so profound it even outweighs this terrible loss.

For those of you who have pets, give them extra treats and belly rubs for me tonight.