The Accidental Dog Dad

The Accidental Dog Dad is a heart-filled memoir about grief, unexpected responsibility, and the quiet miracles that animals bring into our lives. Set against the humid, colorful backdrop of Miami, this story follows Gabriel—a man who has sworn never to open his heart to another animal after losing the cat who once saved him. But life has a way of rewriting our rules.

When his nephew Leo travels to Venezuela to say goodbye to his estranged father, a dying wish is handed down: Take care of Yuki, the loyal Husky who never left the man’s side. What begins as an impossible responsibility becomes a journey of healing neither Gabriel nor Leo expect.

Suddenly, their small Miami home becomes the landing place for a grieving dog with mismatched eyes, a history of devotion, and a quiet wisdom of his own. As Yuki adjusts to a world without his original human, Gabriel finds himself confronting old wounds—those tied to Kitchen, the cat who once claimed his heart, and the vow he made in a cold exam room: Never again.

But Yuki is not just a dog.

He is a mirror.

A bridge.

A catalyst.

Through sleepless nights, hesitant walks, territorial showdowns, and unexpected moments of connection, Gabriel discovers that love doesn’t replace what was lost—it expands around it. And sometimes the animals who arrive in our lives during the hardest chapters are the ones who carry us into the next.

Tender, honest, and beautifully cinematic, The Accidental Dog Dad is a story for anyone who has ever loved an animal, lost one, or feared loving again. It is a reminder that grief is not the end of love, and that healing often arrives on four paws, quietly, without asking permission.