John Mayer is coping with the loss of his dog, Moose, after 14 years.
“We said goodbye to Moose yesterday,” Mayer, 48, wrote via Instagram on Saturday, December 6. “He came into my life when I needed pure love, and that’s what he gave me for 14 years.”
He continued, “We traded on that love, as well as something else I now realize was important: routine. For a guy like me who left home at 19 and had never lived the same day twice, our routine brought real comfort and stability. When dinner is always at 8, and the afternoon walks are at 4:30, those kinds of things can heal your heart. And they did, time and time again.”
The “Your Body is a Wonderland” singer also shared a series of photos featuring the late pup, lovingly chronicling the pair’s relationship that spanned more than a decade.
“Today my heart is so heavy and sore, but there’s more love in my life than there has ever been, and that’s because Moose helped lead me to it,” he added in the caption. “It can’t be long before I unearth an old tennis ball – there must be a hundred out there under sticks and brush that were too hard to fish out – and when I do, I’ll give it a toss, and think about the dog I had when I was becoming a man, and how he was such a good dog, and that there isn’t ever enough time. But there’s enough love. There’s more than enough.”
The carousel of images begins with a recent photo of Moose, then transitions to a snap of the dog as a puppy. Mayer also included several photos featuring the singer and Moose together, including a pic showing a then-long-haired Mayer embracing the young dog, and a second, more recent shot that shows the pair playing with a tennis ball.
Mayer’s fans may recall that Moose appeared on the cover of the singer-songwriter’s sixth studio album, 2013’s Paradise Valley. The cover of the record showed Mayer, decked out in a hat and long coat, and Moose standing in the middle of a field.
In a 2017 interview with Bobby Bones, Mayer revealed he’d found himself at a bit of a crossroads after finding out his dog didn’t exactly enjoy live music.
“My dog does not stay in Montana. This is what happened. I got a dog; I wanted to have a dog on the road. Road dog. A dear friend of mine happens to be an incredible dog trainer,” he said at the time, acknowledging that it’s difficult to own a dog when you’re always touring. “She took my dog. Trained my dog. Turned him into a perfect beast.”
He continued at the time, “And then I was like, okay taking my dog on the road. Dog hates music. Hates music. He thinks it’s like thunder. So he’s trembling in the dressing room. First night — I think Red Rocks was the first place we were like, ‘Okay, well I got a dog let’s do this.’ Cowering in the corner.”
The guitarist added that Moose’s aversion to music appeared to extend to just playing guitar around at home.
“When he’s home with me, if I pick up a guitar, plug it in and start playing, he does the funniest thing,” he said. “He doesn’t want to offend me. He slowly slinks his two front paws off the couch and just waddles out of the room.”
Mayer and his friend eventually worked out a joint custody arrangement that allowed Moose to be comfortable, and Mayer to pick up his dog when he wasn’t on the road.
“So it wasn’t going to work, but it turned out that my dog trainer, she loved him so much, she said, ‘Well, he’s a part of our family too, so I’ll be the mommy,’” he explained. “And I thought, ‘That’s awesome.’ My dog lives a better life than I do. He lives in Brentwood, California. And I’ll pick him up — it’s like doggie day care but it’s months long.”
