Miranda Lambert mourns passing of her senior dog, Waylon: 'He was a rock in our family'

By Megan Stone

Miranda Lambert is grieving the death of her senior dog, Waylon, whom she found abandoned on the side of the road when he was a puppy over a decade ago.

In a heartbreaking announcement Thursday, the "Settling Down" singer posted a series of photos of her companion throughout the ages and mourned, "Today I lost one of my best friends. My old pal Waylon."

"I found him and his sister on the side of the road in Oklahoma in January 2008," Lambert wrote. "They were abandoned, starving and freezing nearly to death."

Waylon was named after Waylon Jennings, who just happened to be playing on the radio when Lambert rescued the pups.

"I took them straight to the vet and she told me that the little boy was not doing too well (malnourished and dehydrated) because whatever they had found to eat while they were homeless, he always let her eat first," she recalled. "He did that nearly his whole life."

While the vet wasn't positive that Waylon was going to make it, Lambert moved heaven and earth to ensure he lived a full and happy life for "almost 13 years."

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Today I lost one of my best friends. My old pal Waylon. I found him and his sister on the side of the road in Oklahoma in January 2008. They were abandoned , starving and freezing nearly to death. I was listening to Jessi Colter and Waylon Jennings at the time me and mom saw them and pulled over to pick them up. I took them straight to the vet and she told me that the little boy was not doing too well (malnourished and dehydrated ) because whatever they had found to eat while they were homeless, he always let her eat first. He did that nearly his whole life. She said he probably wouldn’t make it but he did. For almost 13 years. He was a rock in our family and always held down the fort. He lived his life with no fences. The way we all want to live. He was a farm dog through and through and retired to Nashville life riding on the bus with mama to go home to Texas for Christmas every year. I’m so thankful for the time we had with him and I’m thankful for the rest of the time we have with his sister Jessi. Im so glad my husband @brendanjmcloughlin got to know him in his final years.💙 We are heartbroken but happy that he is running across the rainbow bridge right now and will be waiting for us when we get there. 🌈 Dogs change your life. The bond is something that can’t be described unless you have lived it. Thank you @sarahananney @julianentwig and @t_man_photo for being his other moms and dad and taking such care of him when I was gone. And thank you to the team at @animaliawellness in Franklin TN and BluePearl pet hospital in Franklin TN for giving us such amazing treatment and a few more years together. Hug your pups today y’all. #rescuedog #dogmom @muttnation

A post shared by Miranda Lambert (@mirandalambert) on Oct 22, 2020 at 4:47pm PDT

When describing how incredible of a pet he was, the Grammy winner reminisced, "He was a rock in our family and always held down the fort."

"I’m so thankful for the time we had with him," Lambert added. "We are heartbroken but happy that he is running across the rainbow bridge right now and will be waiting for us when we get there."

Her parting request to fans was, "Hug your pups today y’all."

She also shared her last moments with Waylon, writing in a comment, "I sang him 'High Note' by Brothers Osbourne last night. Felt right."