When This Family Fostered a Dog in Hospice Care, They Made Sure to Check Off Every Item on His Bucket List

Editor’s Note: America’s Best Pet Pals is a nationwide search for the animal friendships that make you laugh, cry, and purr. Reader’s Digest will be honoring the best in pet friendship in print, online, and on social media. This is a finalist in our “Rainbow Bridge” category. Scroll to the bottom to cast your vote for Theo. To see our full list of finalists, go to rd.com/petpals and vote in each category.

Theo joined our family as a hospice foster dog in May 2020. He had been found in a parking lot and dropped off at animal control. Due to large masses all over his body, he was labeled rescue only. We offered to foster him. We weren’t prepared for how bleak things looked for this guy. Without a collar or name, we decided he needed a strong, kind name. On the way home, he became Theo.

Two animal organizations committed to funding Theo’s care. One more visit to the oncologist confirmed our concerns. They didn’t give a prognosis, but based on Theo’s spirit and wagging tail, we decided to create a bucket list for him to experience anything he might’ve missed earlier in life. After announcing the idea on Facebook we began receiving bucket list suggestions and set off an incredible 205-day adventure to complete 62 bucket list items.

RELATED: This Ornery Pig Didn’t Like Anyone Until One Unlikely Creature Was Determined to Be Her Friend

Number 37 on the list? Have people all over the world fall in love with Theo. We’ve so far heard from people in Scotland, Australia, England, German, Mexico, Italy, New Zealand, and all over the United States. People fell in love with a dog they never met, just by Theo being Theo.

Theo’s Complete Bucket List:

1. Eat ice cream
2. Enjoy a butcher shop bone
3. Go on a boat ride
4. Eat pizza
5. Meet a unicorn (pony)
6. Go to a drive-in movie
7. Sworn in as an honorary police K9
8. Go to the fire station
9. Have a blind picnic date
10. Meet rescued chickens, cows, goats, and pigs
11. Pretend to be a skydiver
12. Eat steak
13. Have a Portillos hot dog
14. Eat a drive-through burger
15. Be the main model at a photoshoot
16. Be on TV
17. Be on the radio
18. Have a birthday party
19. Win the lottery
20. Ride in a Mustang convertible
21. Receive cards and letters from all over the world
22. Have a Starbucks pup cup
23. Be featured in a Dodo article
24. Swim in a pool
25. Fall in love with a blue octopus
26. Wade in a lake
27. Hang out at Shadowview Brewery
28. Have my portrait drawn
29. Have a beer named after me—Theo’s Octopus by Roaring Table
30. Hike in the woods
31. Reconnect with someone I loved
32. Solve a Scooby-Doo Mystery
33. Participate in taco Tuesday
34. Attend a carillon concert in my honor
35. Be invited to a birthday party
36. My face on a t-shirt
37. Have people all over the world fall in love with me
38. Roll in the sand at the lake
39. Meet Elvis
40. Hang out with my Buds at Dog N Suds
41. Fell in love with a Tortie cat named Izzy
42. Visited a pumpkin patch
43. Honorary HotDogger Du Jour
44. Meet puppies
45. Devour the area’s largest Pup Cup
46. Have a song written about me
47. Receive a letter from Santa
48. Meet Santa
49. Have my portrait painted
50. Meet turkeys
51. Be a Salvation Army bell ringer
52. Uncle Theo meets his newborn baby nephew Cam
53. Be a special guest at a holiday light show
54. Pet supp + 28 octopuses
55. Meet the grinch
56. Theo on your tree -o
57. Have someone read me a story
58. Have my story shared in church
59. Trade my Earth Angel Wings for Heavenly Angel Wings ?
60. Front page of the newspaper

Courtesy Sharon Scott

Meet the Dog Who Saved a Nest of Baby Cardinals from her Brother

Courtesy Stacey Place

How the Dog Nobody Wanted for 17 Months Became a School's Unofficial Mascot

Courtesy Joanne Clayton

How One Pig Became a Town Mascot, and the Best Friend She Made Along the Way