He couldn’t cure him, but he could do something to help his best friend rest without feeling so much pain.
In 2012, John Unger would take Schoep to Lake Superior in Wisconsin. His dog was nearly 20 years old and suffered from arthritis and hip problems, so getting comfortable had become increasingly difficult.
In the water, buoyancy reduced the pressure on his joints. John held him against his chest while Schoep relaxed until he fell asleep in his arms.
One of those times, photographer Hannah Stonehouse Hudson captured the scene. The image went viral and moved so many people that donations began to arrive to help with Schoep’s care and treatments.
Schoep died in July 2013, shortly after turning 20. But that photograph continues to circulate more than a decade later, preserving one of those moments when loving someone also means doing everything possible to make the other hurt just a little less ❤️.