Twelve years ago, Brynn Fussell welcomed a golden retriever puppy named Mason into her family. As she got to know Mason, she fell in love with his playful, loving personality.
“He’s a huge sweetheart,” Fussell said in a video for The Dodo.
Fussell learned that Mason’s favorite activities included chasing after tennis balls, frolicking through fields and taking long naps. But it quickly became clear that Mason’s very favorite thing of all was fetching the newspaper every day.
Every single morning, Mason would get up early before breakfast, grab the newspaper from the front yard and bring it inside for his family to read. Rain or shine, no matter what, Mason was overjoyed to fulfill his important familial duty.
“He gets so happy and so proud,” Fussell
said.
As Mason entered his senior years, Fussell started to notice him struggling a little bit. His vision seemed to be impaired, so Fussell took him to the vet to get checked out.
“We started noticing that he just seemed a little bit more unsure about his steps,” Fussell said. “He started bumping into things.”
Mason’s vets ended up diagnosing him with glaucoma, a painful condition affecting his optic nerve. Ultimately, his doctors recommended that he undergo eye removal surgery, which Fussell agreed to. She was worried about how Mason losing his vision completely would affect him, but seeing how relieved he seemed after the surgery reassured her that she’d made the right decision.
Still, Fussell worried about one thing: Would Mason still be able to grab the newspaper every day? Once Mason recovered from his procedure, Fussell let him out the front door to see whether he still remembered where the paper was. To her amazement, Mason knew exactly what to do and sniffed around until he found the newspaper.
“It’s usually thrown around the same spot, which made it easier to figure out where it was when he lost his vision,” Fussell said.
Fussell was deeply relieved. She knew how important the newspaper ritual was to Mason, and that getting back to his daily routine would help him regain his confidence.
“[W]e are very proud of him,” Fussell said.
These days, Mason fetches the paper every day with the same joy and enthusiasm he had as a puppy. His favorite things in the world are still being a good boy and making his family smile.
“He may be 12, but he acts like a little toddler,” Fussell said.
