Miranda Lambert’s pets are her children. She has horses, cats, chickens, and a whole pack of dogs.
Sadly, that pack just lost one of its most beloved members.
On Thursday night (October 22), Miranda shared the news that one of her two golden retrievers, Waylon, had passed away. “Today I lost one of my best friends,” she wrote. “My old pal Waylon.”
Miranda told the story about how she rescued Waylon and his sister, Jessi, way back in 2008:
“I found him and his sister on the side of the road in Oklahoma in January 2008,” she recalled. “They were abandoned , starving and freezing nearly to death. I was listening to Jessi Colter and Waylon Jennings at the time me and mom saw them and pulled over to pick them up.“
Miranda said that she immediately took the two puppies to the vet, and learned that Waylon was in bad shape. The vet told her she didn’t think Waylon would make it:
“…she told me that the little boy was not doing too well (malnourished and dehydrated ) because whatever they had found to eat while they were homeless, he always let [Jessi] eat first,” Miranda wrote. “He did that nearly his whole life. She said he probably wouldn’t make it but he did.”
Waylon and Jessi both survived, and went on to live the farm dog life with Miranda’s other dogs. He also traveled with her whenever she made the trip back home to Texas for Christmas.
She said she is thankful Waylon got the chance to get to know her husband, Brendan, and that his sister Jessi is still with them.
“We are heartbroken but happy that he is running across the rainbow bridge right now and will be waiting for us when we get there,” Miranda said.
Read her tribute to Waylon below, and scroll through the slideshow to see some photos of him as a puppy.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CGqi_KGHfHs/
Below, we’ve included a few more photos Miranda has shared of Waylon through the years.
As she said in her tribute to him, “He lived his life with no fences” and loved being with the other dogs in the family.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B3xQMjmnb7e/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BszXzOYA2UW/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BkWRhtvBE99/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BhA9lYuBgoB/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BUX4ujQju2Y/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BGI_olVjPjv/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BDb-dj7jPuk/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BA3OyGxDPrd/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BAbJ1gZjPiD/
Also, look below to see Waylon, his sister Jessi, and some of Miranda’s other dogs star in a video for her MuttNation Foundation. He was such a sweet, happy pup!
Our hearts go out to Miranda, Brendan, and their other furbabies during this sad time. It’s clear Waylon will be dearly missed by all of them.