Jake Owen Mourns the Sudden Loss of His Beloved Dog, Slash

Jake Owen is saying goodbye to a beloved family member. The singer lost one of his German Shepherd dogs, Slash, on Saturday night (July 10) due to a sudden medical event.

Owen paid tribute to his four-legged companion on social media on Sunday. “I lost one of my best friends last night unexpectedly. The drs said his stomach had ‘flipped’ and even with emergency surgery, it wasn’t enough to save him,” the singer wrote.

A “stomach flip,” also known as bloat or, more clinically, gastric dilatation volvulus (GDV), is a life threatening condition most commonly occurring in large-breed dogs with deep chests, such as German Shepherds. It happens after a dog’s stomach expands due to gas, food or fluid, causing the organ to rotate and twist.

“Slash was my youngest German Shepherd and the sweetest most loving dog I’ve ever had. He was more like a human than a dog. While my other pups would run free across the farm, Slash just wanted to be by my side,” Owen wrote.

Owen’s love of dogs is well-documented. In 2017, he adopted a German Shepherd puppy, Axel, who joined a pack already including six-year-old bulldog Merle. In his social media tribute, the singer posted a number of pictures of Slash, admitting that it was difficult for him to even post such devastating news.

“Losing a dog is like losing a family member. It was hard for me to even put this post together and share. go love on your family. Go love on your dogs. See ya up there Slashy. Love ya buddy.”

On the music front, Owen is gearing up for his one-night-only benefit show, Jake Owen & Friends: A Concert Made for You, which will be held at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium on July 15 and benefit the CMA Foundation’s efforts to support music education programs across the country. The concert takes its name from the singer’s latest No. 1 hit, “Made for You.”

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