Ray, thanks for the link, but what am I supposed to do with this terrible lump in my throat now?

The piece was well written and very poignant and timely as I'm watching my thirteen year old "old dog" cope with that phase of his life right now.
This past year alone, I've seen the rank robust incorrigible bundle of energy, known as Reddog, transformed into a slow mellow "old dog". The diagnosis of Mast Cell cancer and, not one, but two ACL tears has hastened the process tremendously.
It has always been my contention that dogs are Gods angels so it didn't take long for me to tear up reading that article.