The time my dog got drunk on Pinot Gris

Today was supposed to be the day that my monthly long-read articles return to the website. But something terrible happened the week that I planned to sit down and delve deep into history so I could deliver you a steaming bowl of wine geekery. There was no way I could bring myself to do it.

My dog Sunny, who has been in countless of my YouTube videos, was declining from gastric cancer. At 15 years old, he couldn't hear well, see well, and he was basically a senile old man that slept most of the day. Then he got sick and things got worse. It was decided that we had to put him down.

We waited two days so the kids had enough time to register what was going on and say goodbye to him. It was devastating. He was the staple of our family. Our first child. He's even the reason why my wife and I moved in together because she bought him on a whim and had no place to keep him. So if it wasn't for Sunny, there might not be a Lillian and a Daisy.

This being a wine blog, I do have a wine story to tell about the little rascal. During the summer of 2012, I sat down during the middle of the day to write a thing about Big Fire Pinot Gris for work. I poured myself a big ol' glass and then I suddenly got a phone call from a friend I hadn't heard from in awhile. Chatting away, I stood up and went outside and walked around the yard for awhile. After the phone call was over, I went back in.

I sat down, wrote a little blurb about the winery, and then went to take a sip of the wine... and it was gone. What the hell? Then I looked at the dog, and he gave me a look like "hhheeeeeeeyyy guuuuuyyy" and I immediately knew that the dog was on his way to drunkville. In his prime he was 12 lbs! That big glass of wine was going to wreck him!

So I brought him over to my wife and we called the animal hospital. With every minute he was more and more intoxicated. At one point I put him on the bed to get a good look at him and he promptly just fell right off of it. Our dog was absolutely shitfaced. Have you ever seen a shitfaced dog? It's exactly like a shitfaced person. Barely keeping his eyes open, flopping over, making weird noises, licking everything.

We took him to the animal hospital. He became a mean drunk and sloppily growled and barked at everybody. They hooked him up to an IV to hydrate and sober him up, and he stayed overnight to be observed. His hangover must have been pretty ruff. (I am not above using puns)

Even though it was scary when it was happening, that time the dog got drunk on Pinot Gris is a fun memory that we will always look back at and have a laugh at his expense.

On January 10th, 2019, we said goodbye to the mightiest member of our family. For 15 years our fearless chihuahua bravely protected Casa Casco from villainous delivery people and various other forms of evil strangers, like those who had the nerve to walk their dogs past our house. But when he let his guard down he was a sweetheart that loved his family and just wanted to play and snuggle and have his belly rubbed.

We love you forever, Sunny Corleone. You're the best boy.