Carrie Fisher had a sweet dog, Gary, a four year-old French bulldog who was certified as a therapy dog and thus able to go with her everywhere. Gary has so much personality and his tongue sticks out most of the time. Carrie talked about Gary during an interview on NPR’s Fresh Air last month, where she said she “got [Gary] here in New York in the village at a very tragic pet store” and that “everything is sort of wrong with him.” Gary has an Instagram and Twitter account, which broke my heart a little when I read it earlier today. Whomever is running the account on Gary’s behalf tweeted a photo of him at the window during Carrie’s hospitalization with the caption “I’ll be waiting right here mommy.” Then, after Carrie passed, the same photo of sweet Gary was tweeted saying he’s still waiting.
I'll still be waiting for you……. pic.twitter.com/ef461OcqKJ
— Carrie Fisher's Dog (@Gary_TheDog) December 27, 2016
Looking through Gary’s Twitter makes my stomach flip and gives me a lump in my throat. There are just so many pictures of Gary and Carrie together and you know that puppy is missing his mom terribly. The good news is that Carrie’s daughter, Billie Lourd, 24, will care for Gary. Plus Billie also has a French bulldog, a little white dog named Tina, who is a buddy of Gary’s and will hopefully help him through this difficult time. I’m not even being facetious I’m glad Gary has a friend.
Family friends are telling us Billie Lourd will take custody of the French bulldog, which was by Carrie’s side on the plane from London to LAX when Carrie’s heart stopped. The pooch also visited Carrie at UCLA Medical Center.
Billie already has a French bulldog named Tina, that’s best friends with Gary. We’re told she wants to make sure the 2 get along in the long term and she’s able to handle the added responsibility.
A family source told TMZ, Carrie always wanted Billie to take Gary if something happened to her. If, for some reason, Billie can’t care for Gary for the long haul, the dog will remain in the family.
Ok that makes me feel better for Gary. I’m trying not to think too hard about him being there when Carrie suffered a heart attack and then visiting her in the hospital later. He has a loving home with Bille and Tina and that’s what Carrie wanted for him. RIP Carrie Fisher, you will be remembered by your fans, family, friends and most of all, dear Gary.
photos credit: WENN.com and FameFlynet
Not going to lie I teared up thinking about the poor dog. Our pets are like family so I’m glad her daughter is going to be taking care of Gary and that he will remain with the family
Thinking about Gary actually worried me yesterday, so I’m glad for this tiny bright spot of good news. I’m also sad for Graham Norton; he and Carrie were close.
I always worry about people’s pets…glad Gary has Tina and a safe home. I’m still so sad about her dying.
+1 So sad all the way around, just so…..is :unfair: the word? Glad Gary will have a home with someone he knows. Our company once supported a city shelter w a benefit event. The night of, we found out two dachshunds, siblings about 8 yrs old, had been dropped there after the death of their elderly owner. They were huddling together in one cage in the shelter “meet-and-greet” room, so confused. Shelter staff told us how hard this sudden kind of loss is on them. Needless to say, a guy on our team got upset and said, “Nope, nope, not finishing their lives like this! nope!!” and adopted them on the spot. It took about 4 months but with work and care (a pet psychologist the shelter vet recommended) they were calm, pulling out of grief, and cuddling constantly with their new family. My brother and his family just took in his mother-in-law’s elderly cat when its owner went into assisted living — the cat is adapting well, bonding with their corgi, and they take her for weekly visits with his mother-in-law who is just two city blocks away,and so happy to be able to still see her — a deep connection..
This always tears my heart too. The death of someone, sad enough, then the impact on the pet who cannot understand.
Pets can grieve. My uncle died of a heart attack, and his three year-old white furbaby died three weeks later, despite the rest of the family being around.
I’m glad her family realize the importance of trying to help him adjust. If Billie cannot keep him, maybe Todd can.
I love that Carrie and her daughter gave their pets people names. This is hitting me harder than I thought it would.
Me too. This particular death in 2016 is my dagger to the heart. Not sure why exactly but this one is like “No! Over the edge! Postcards just went over the f-in edge!”
I loved the videos of Gary in this last push for the Star Wars movies & how much inspiration Carrie gave me to be yourself & be okay with it.
When my mom died, I took in her 3 dogs. They adjusted really well. I hope everything works out.
What a great daughter you are. I’m sure your mom loved you very much and would be so proud of you.
Awe. I’m glad. My mom passed unexpectedly in 2014 and we took in her two cats. I’m glad to hear that others do it too. They’re family and I couldn’t bear to do anything else. Before I let them take my mom to the funeral home, I had them stop at her house and put her in the living room for an hour so her cats could say goodbye. It was really hard, but I’m glad I did it. So they didn’t think she just went away and didn’t come back.
You guys are killing me here. JustJen, that had to be so difficult and you did it for your mom and her babies. How unselfish of you. See I told you guys, trump can’t hurt us, there are too many good people in the world.
I really choked up when I found out Debbie and Carrie lived next door to each other so they could always check on each other. Now, that’s a close mother/daughter relationship. Billie and Carrie seemed to adore each other. Close family. So I’m sure Billie will really be there for her grandmother and vice versa. What a sad holiday season this was for them. Poor Gary. I’m glad he is staying with family. But he must be so confused right now, still waiting for Carrie to come home. She had said he hated to be away from her.
I saw a special or some interview with Carrie Fisher and she cooked for her mom and would carry a tray to her house for her meals because her mom didn’t go out in public anymore and needed a little help. I think Carrie also called her a bit of a diva for not cooking for herself too but she laughed it off and said she was glad she could help her mom.
And Debbie lived across the street from her own mother for the longest time.
Poor, poor Gary! Breaks my heart! Yes he will be cared for and probably ultimately happy, but he might not really ever understand what happened to his mom.
It always makes me sad to think of the distress my dog goes through because she doesn’t understand something 🙁
Carrie was always Princess Leia to me. I’ve been watching all the interviews and wow, what a rock star she was. She went through so much and lived through it all with humor. To say she was inspirational is putting it mildly for those who suffer with mental illness. I can only imagine Billie has inherited much of her mother’s class and wit and I know Gary will be loved. Debbie, Carrie and Billie, three class acts……and Todd, her brother loves her so much. RIP to an icon.
Just started crying again 🙁 I still can’t believe Carrie is gone. She was such a talented, intelligent, witty person and there will definitely be a void in the universe now that she’s gone.
I’m glad her daughter is taking Gary and that he will continue to be loved and well-cared for. Those twitter pictures remind me of a local news story where I live. A man was dying in his hospital bed and his family brought his dog to visit him one last time, it was absolutely heartbreaking. I think pets do understand what’s going on. My husband’s father died when he was young and he told me that, during the funeral, his father’s dog put his paws on his casket and whined 🙁
That picture of the puppy looking out the window just guts me. Poor puppy. I feel sorry for that whole family, having to go through this :/
One of my brothers is currently “dog-sitting” a dog whose owner has been hospitalized long-term and will probably not return home. He says the dog is traumatized and has separation anxiety issues and he is glad he can help his friend and give the dog a new home where his issues are understood.
A cousin works at a nursing home. She now has three cats whose owners had to give them up when they entered the facility. She couldn’t bear the thought of them going to shelters and knew their owners were fretting over them so she took them. She sometimes brings the cats in to visit their owners and keeps them updated with pictures and stories about how they’ve adapted to their new home.
lightpurple: What a generous thing for your cousin to do. And so kind to bring the cats in to visit former owners. Wish all nursing home staff had her big heart
So many lovely tributes to amazing Carrie. I hope Gary’s (and the rest of her family, of course) are doing as well as they can.
Aaaand I’m crying, thanks! Poor Gary, I really am glad he has a friend too, Gary and Tina, so ridiculously adorable, lol.
i’ve been thinking a lot about gary and billie since the news. it’s always who’s left behind that has the hardest part, so it’s lovely to hear this.
Crying
I’m glad Gary will have a good home with her daughter and her doggie. I just feel terrible for the whole family.
Poor Gary.
Speaking of animals, Richard Adams died yesterday.
I am devastated. “Watership Down” is my favourite book. “Plague Dogs” is also remarkable.
This is why I do not board my dogs if we go away. I bring in a pet sitter so they stay in their own environment with someone they know. I can’t imagine how terrified they’d be if I dumped them off somewhere. Poor little things don’t understand.
I am the same age as Billie and my mom is the same age as Carrie so I feel so much for her. Hopefully she and Deppie and Gary will be alright, prayers for them.
Yesterday was the seventh anniversary of my mom’s death and I also inherited her dog, who was only a nine-month-old puppy when she died. To this day we are a great comfort to each other. I am glad Gary has Billie and Tina to look after him!
I feel so bad for her family. I haven’t heard much about Debbie. She must be heartbroken.
My mum has asked me to take care of her beloved french poodle if she passes away. Family pets suffer greatly when their Master/Mistress passes away so I’m not surprised a lot of us have had this conversation with family members.
I definitely know who will take care of my cat if something happened to me.
When I heard about Carrie;’s medical incident on the plane, I said to my husband “I wonder what happened to Gary – God, I hope he’s ok?” I knew he was with her – he was always with her. In the shuffle, he could have been left behind. I’m sure he was confused and scared. He was her constant companion and they adored each other – they were always together – she brought him on TV interviews. I’m glad Billie is caring for him……..as people, we understand what happened. He has no idea why Mommy isn’t coming home……..when my Mom died, her dog was sent to me – I had to move out of the dorms at college to take care of the dog. The dog was never the same……..so sad…………
Need something to make you smile?
This year Carrie was at a Comic Con, and saw a t-shirt on a fan she loved so much that she gave away the cashmere sweater she was wearing so she could have it (they swapped shirts). The coveted T-Shirt read:
“The GOP: Creating government small enough to fit inside your vagina”
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/entertainment/2016/08/23/princess-leia-loves-iowa-made-t-shirt/89110464/
E pics of him looking out the window like that just break my heart.
My dogs belonged to someone who died and I think about what their mindset was…I think about it even 7 years later.
I’m so glad to see this. Seeing Gary’s instagram has been making me tear up and I’d been wondering what would become of him, hoping it was something like this. I’m a total dog person and he’s the one I’ve been feeling most heartbroken for (not that the whole situation isn’t tragic and terribly sad, of course).
I knew I would cry, but I looked anyway. Cheers to Carrie Fisher , actress, writer, and Dog Mom! I hope Gary adjusts-I’m glad he’s got Billie and Tina.
By the way, I’ve noticed that many people think Gary_TheDog on Twitter is an “official” account. It’s not, it’s a fan account, and the tweeted photo doesn’t seem to be of Gary himself. Gary has a very distinctive look…
Gary had an Instagram account, but it hasn’t been updated for obvious reasons: http://www.instagram.com/garyfisher
That’s good news!! Billie is great in “Scream Queens”!
I hope Gary saw her after she passed on so he won’t feel confused and abandoned. He was allowed to visit her in the hospital.
Billie is a great actress, I hope she’s okay and getting lots of support.
Debbie was at her son’s house planning the funeral and fell ill, suffered possibly a stroke, and the ambulance took her to the hospital. What a rough time for this family.
Debbie dying just one day after Carrie is heartbreaking.
The stress of her daughter’s sudden collapse and passing had to be tough on her. Outliving a child is not something anyone wants to do.
This broke my heart. Carrie talking about a project with Debbie coming out on HBO next year.
An excerpt of the article. In the full article she says Debbie has health issues. Poor Debbie losing her daughter.
‘The film, an intimate portrait of fame, family, aging and mother-daughter dynamics, has received enthusiastic reviews in Cannes and will appear on HBO early next year.
“Earlier this week, Fisher told the Washington Post that she wanted to make the film because Reynolds, who still occasionally performs her nightclub act, had begun to decline both cognitively and physically.
“I didn’t know how much longer she would be performing,” the “Star Wars” star said of her mom. “It’s the thing that gives her life, but it was also pulling it out of her, because she’d perform and then she’d have to recover. But this is someone who wants to go back and do it now.”
In another review of the documentary this past spring, this is so poignant in light of Carrie passing..
“As Fisher saunters across to her mother’s neighboring home on the same Beverly Hills compound, and the two share a soufflé that they simultaneously feed to their dogs, their loving interdependence seems unbreakable.”
Debbie Reynolds passed away. OMG
“She wanted to be with Carrie,” her son Todd Fisher told Variety.
I feel sick. So, so sad for Todd and Billie. I imagine they were still reeling from the first shock and now this.
🙁
no words anymore.
My thoughts to Billie Lourde. Her grandmother passed a day after her mom. Can 2016 end already??!!
This is giving me a severe case of the sads! Strength and comfort to the family.
Debbie Reynolds died!!!!! Ugh! So sad and heartbreaking. At least they’re together.