Rob was a very dear friend of ours for many years and I am beyond devastated. He was almost like a big brother to me. I was in tears last night when I heard the news. Rob was the sweetest, kindest, most generous man you would ever meet. He would give you the shirt off his back if it was the last shirt he had. We first met here on GRF way back in 2008 when my husband and I got our first Golden, Tucker (who we sadly lost to hemangiosarcoma this past January). Rob was one of the very first people to welcome us to the forum and we immediately realized that we lived just under 2 hours from each other and we became great friends. My husband and I would frequently get together with Rob for Golden play dates whenever he was in our area. I remember one time about 9 or 10 years ago when he got stuck with jury duty where we live and we would get together every afternoon for a week so that Oakly and Caue could stretch their legs and play with our boys after being cooped up all day while Rob was doing his civic duty. Then, there was the time he drove 2 hours to come help us install new flooring in our house and he refused to let us pay him (believe me, we tried!). He spent the entire day here until late at night helping us and we had so much fun talking about our dogs and just life in general. Oakly and Caue came and played with our dogs while we installed the flooring. He even stopped by with a little care package when my husband had heart surgery 4 years ago. It was the SWEETEST thing ever. It absolutely broke my heart when he lost both Oakly and Caue within the same year, but I was ecstatic for him when he got his new puppy, Teke, last year. He was so in love with that puppy and it made my heart melt to see him so happy again. Anyone who knew Rob and was able to call him a friend is extremely fortunate. There are not many like him.
RIP, Rob. I will miss you so much, my friend. Hug Oakly, Caue, and Tucker for me.